Friday, January 12, 2007
Stranded at the Kenya/Somalia border
We’re on a mission … to get to the village of Liboi on the Kenya-Somalia border -- a tiny spot on the map which has been the entry point for many fleeing victims of Somalia’s clan wars since the early 1990s.
We’ve chartered a plane in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, (a six-seater Cessna with a two-man crew and carrying 300 kilos of gear.) Destination, the tiny town of Dadaab in the country’s east. The flight is smooth and uneventful, thanks to the experienced German pilot who clearly knows his way around the thick clouds. Along the way we get an amazing double-view of the snow-capped peaks of Mounts Kenya and Kilimanjaro. Two hours later we’re in Dadaab and meet up with the rest of our crew which drove up the night before. We pack the 4x4 and head due east to the border. The roads are unbelievably bad, the terrain inhospistable on a good day. I wonder to myself, even if the Somalis refugees make it across the border, walking the 75 kilometres to Liboi under a 50-degree sun is suicidal at best. Every now and then we see antelopes and other wild game skipping across the landscape while a warthog and her little family scamper at the sight of our loud and dusty vehicle. Three hours later we finally get to our destination, the village of Liboi a few miles from the border. It’s literally a one-horse town -- dry, dusty, deplorable -- with families of refugees lining both side of the main dust-filled street: Men, women, children and more children. We check into the only hotel available. It claims to offer five star service. Actually it’s a dive with no electricity, a roach motel with no running water but (thank God,) cold soft drinks. We devour what seems a fridge-full of drinks, quenching our thirst from the now unbearable heat. It’s going to be a tough few days here, but I’m thinking of the poor refugees stranded across the border with their few belongings and fast running out of water and food. At least we know we’ll be leaving this God-forsaken land in just a matter of days. These refugees don’t know how long they’ll be in this "black-hole," not wanting to return to Mogadishu due to fighting and not knowing who will eventually come to their rescue here in the middle of nowhere in Africa.
Jeff, again appreciate your coverage. Although I know some things about Africa, I am not truly knowledgable. At one time one of the issues of the emerging countries was that the Borders actually gave little attention to the needs of traditional tribes, restricting them from pursuing their normal lifestyles. I saw that the Bushmen did get a small reprieve, but then were denied access to their tribal lands. Does the Kenya-Somali Border issue play into this? Trying to sort out the religious-war lord-dictator thing is mind boggling. Do the 'refugees' understand the politics or are they just in a hopeless survival mode waiting for something to be decided?
Jeff:
Thank you for your continued coverage of refugees in Africa. It disturbs me to listen to members of US Congress debating on whether the UN or the US will be able to make progress in the area of aid to the lives of so many displaced people. But then again, it is political suicide even to talk about Katrina recovery process. In my opinion, successful aid for refugees probably comes and will continue to come from faith-based and humanitarian organizations. Thank you for blogging about your journey to the Kenya-Somalia border. Your documentary style, whether on CNN or blogging, is appreciated. |
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