As the world marked the International Refugee Day on June 17th, I- – a (war) refugee myself welcomed this day some 12,300 kilometers away from now home amongst Internally Displaced People living between Naivasha and Maai Mahiu. The purpose of my visit was to get to know Neema inhabitants by conducting a 16 Question Survey. Alex. my Swahili translator and friend helped me. Together we spend 5 days and little over 25 hours talking to some of the most neglected people of Kenya.
In a media supplement published on June 17th to commemorate the International Refugee Day, the Government of Kenya steered clear of the locally displaced people living in camps, instead focusing on the International Refugees. More than 60,000 internally displaced people remain homeless, two years after the post-election violence. Some 30,000 still await resettlement by the Government but it seems as if the Government have long given up on the IDP’s.
The purpose of this Survey was to gather information that can help fundraise and target the funds where wanted. I hope that this information will inspire and help interested volunteers and sponsors.
I first visited the camps located in the rift valley province in 2009, through Izzo ~ a great friend, initiator and operator of Outreach Weekend Project. The project involves a feeding program where we reach out to 174 families (over 500 people) living in 6 IDP Camps, and a visit to near by KCC Project. Kcc Project is a one man initiative ( Marcus) to feed and care for over 200 children from the local slum called KCC, located about 25 km from the IDP camps in Naivasha Town.Every weekend Izzo and a group of volunteers drive out from Nairobi to distribute food and other donated goods amongst those two projects. Izzo and Marcus are truly dedicated and have put their own lives on hold to for over a year now.Please visit KCC Slum Project for more info.
This is an appeal to all individuals, organizations, charities and NGOs in general to come forward and help by extending financial, technical and moral support to hundreds of people living in IDP camps. If nothing else, please spread the word. Neema Camp is home to 15 families and 10 single men and women. PDF files with individual families Survey and Fundraising help is available. Please email me to inquire about those
Statistics on IDPs and resettlement are not reliable. The government says only 30,000 people are left in 38 IDP camps; the Kenya Red Cross puts the figure at 68 camps, while OCHA’s latest estimates count about 56,000 people still living in IDP camps.
The statistics are not an indicator of the situation I saw on the ground. Each source gives a number according to its own criteria of who is an IDP and what constitutes a camp. For instance, the government has been doing a profiling exercise to resettle the IDPs. But it only recognizes as ‘genuine’ IDPs those families and persons who own land.
If you don’t own land, then for the purposes of resettlement you are not an IDP. All the official assistance to returning IDPs had so far only been given to those with proof of land ownership or who can be identified as such by the area chief (an administrative official under district officer).
Most people still living in camps are landless people, businessmen and workers who have nowhere to go.
Other than the land-ownership factor, during my visit to several camps I found that many returning families are leaving their children behind in the camps, or in rented rooms, or with relatives. One reason is that there are schools near these camps and the children can continue studying.
But, as a result, families are getting dispersed and children become more vulnerable to all kinds of exploitation and abuse. This is a very serious situation and this phenomenon is widespread. As adult males leave their wives and children behind in order to go check on the security situation in return areas, or to register with the government for the Ksh 10,000 assistance, families are breaking up. In some towns, child-headed displaced families are increasing.
Displaced women are the worst victims. Men leave the camps and start living in satellite camps or in their old homes but are not able to bring their families along. In some cases, children are distributed to other family members in safe areas. The situation of women living in rented accommodation or with relatives who are tired of being nice and compassionate is very bad, and for those whose men have left them behind – it is terrible. One of the unreported aspects of the violence is how many women in inter-ethnic marriages were asked by their men to leave and live with their own families. Marriages were broken because the wife belonged to the other rival tribe. These women are not accepted back by their own families also. The women staying behind in the camps are not certain if or when their men would be back to take them along. The social disturbance caused by the violence and displacement has affected women and children most severely.
The purpose of this Survey was to gather information that can help fundraise and target the funds where wanted. I hope that this information will inspire and help interested volunteers and sponsors.
