IOM and its partners have successfully completed the relocation of
more than 13,000 Somali refugees from overcrowded camps in Kenya's
north-eastern region of Dadaab to Kakuma, in the northwest of the
country.

This complex emergency relocation, which was carried out in
close cooperation with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), the Kenyan Department of Refugees Affairs and NGO
partners, began in mid-August to decongest the overcrowded Dadaab
camps, which hosted some 280,000 refugees, more than three times
the population they were designed to accommodate.

"This successful operation was truly a joint effort to ensure
all refugees were safely relocated to Kakuma where they now enjoy
better shelter, improved access to basic services and where they
benefit from enhanced care and protection," says IOM's Regional
Representative Ashraf El Nour. "We are thankful for the UN's
Central Emergency Response Fund for the financial support IOM has
received for this important operation."

As part of the operation, IOM ensured pre-departure medical
screening to ensure all refugees were fit to travel and provided
medical escorts on the three-day, 1,200 kilometres journey across
Kenya.

IOM also provided medical escorts to 227 vulnerable refugees who
were flown from Dadaab to Kakuma.

Despite this operation, the number of Somalis in Dadaab camps
has remained virtually unchanged, as thousands fleeing conflict and
drought continue to arrive every month. 

For more information, please contact:

Asha Maalim

IOM Nairobi

Tel: (254) 020 4444174

E-mail: "mailto:amaalim@iom.int">amaalim@iom.int

or

John McCue

Head of IOM field Office in Dadaab

E-mail "mailto:jmccue@iom.int">jmccue@iom.int