Refugees fleeing drought-stricken Somalia

Millions of refugees fleeing Somalia have created a humanitarian crisis in East Africa where severe droughts have contributed to a surge in people leaving the war-torn nation for Kenya and other neighbouring countries. The Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya contains over 350,000 people, but was built to hold just 90,000.

The ongoing conflict in Somalia has sent refugees across the border for years, but now the weather is making the problem worse.

“The drought that started last October still has a lasting effect on those people,” explained Red Cross Press officer Yves Van Loo.

Some families walk through sand and searing heat for more than a month looking for food, water and shelter in refugee camps across the border.

“They’ve lost their houses, the ones who had cattle lost it too, and they have no place to go,” Van Loo told Vatican Radio.

Listen to full interview with Yves Van Loo: