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GENEVA, December 19,
2008 — The United Nations refugee agency on Friday launched a 92 million
dollar appeal for new shelter that would ease severe overcrowding in
camps where some 250,000 Somalis are seeking refuge.
With over 60,000 Somalis fleeing into Kenya so far in 2008 and thousands
more arriving monthly, the UNHCR said it needed the funds to build two
new camps which would shelter up to 120,000.
"The emergency assistance to Somali refugees in Dadaab, Kenya, focuses
on relieving dramatic overcrowding in three adjacent camps that are now
three times their initial capacity, with thousands more people
continuing to arrive each month," said the UNHCR in a statement.
"We must take action now to improve the general living conditions among
a refugee population which has already suffered far too much," said UN
High Commissioner for Refugees chief Antonio Guterres.
"We also need to be prepared for the possibility of continued
instability in Somalia and the outflows associated with that," he added.
SOURCE: AFP
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