Refugee week: Somalia

Anyone who saw BBC Panorama this week will have seen the ever continuing nightmare of war in Somalia.  The one thing we know about war zones is that they create refugees; this is as true in Somalia as anywhere else.  

But does the world still know about it?
Its unreported, neglected, ignored.
This week as we think about refugees let us think of those who have been on the search for safety for so many years. 20 years!

Over 750,000 Somali refugees are sheltering in an enormous refugee camp in Kenya; and the numbers increase by almost 10,000 a day!  Huge numbers of people will no homes, no quality of life and no knowledge of the future.  This is what being a refugee is like; it's awful but it's better than the alternative.

What is the alternative?
From what are they fleaing?
It's the horror of Mogadishu!
Gun fights
Bombings
Pillaging of homes
Rape of women and children
Well over a million people dead

What is being a refugee like?
Not even your basic needs are met.
No shelter from the elements other than stick shelters.  Limited clean water, less than we would drink a day.   Very little food, a share of what little aid makes it's way to them.

Can you imagine living without knowing if you can feed your children?

What can they look forward to?
Nothing.  After twenty years of war how can these people imagine the future? They hope to stay alive, stat together as a family; that's it.

This is what being a refugee is really like.  
This is why people flea their homeland and ask other countries to care for them.  This is why I argue with those who think we should close our UK Borders.  

It is easy to pretend refugees are looking for a free ride; but not when you know the facts.  These are the facts; and I have not even shared the worst.


For more information on refugee week please go to http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk