United Nations Radio

The UN refugee agency continues to receive thousands of refugees from Somalia at its already overcrowded Dadaab refugee camps in north-eastern Kenya.

Somali refugee in Dadaab complex

UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond says more than 20,000 Somalis have arrived since the beginning of the year, and more keep coming despite the election of a new government in their homeland.

"Many of the new arrivals UNHCR has interviewed cite increased insecurity in Somalia, especially in the middle and lower Juba regions, coupled with drought and food shortages as the main reasons for fleeing into Kenya. Many of them also express little optimism for the return of peace to their country in the near term. "

Mr. Redmond says UNHCR continues to receive and register new arrivals despite the fact that the capacity of the camps has been completely overstretched for the past year or more. The Dadaab complex, he adds, was designed in the early '90s to accommodate 90,000 people but is currently home to over 260,000 people, making it one of the world's most congested refugee sites. UNHCR has been negotiating with the Government of Kenya to provide land for the construction of new camps.

For UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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