Thousands of Somali refugees are arriving each day in overcrowded camps in Kenya, fleeing a famine affecting the drought-ravaged region in a situation a Canadian nurse says needs more international involvement.
The United Nations says that more than 12 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti need aid after a devastating drought swept across the region. Somalia has been hardest hit.
Hodan Ali, a volunteer nurse with Islamic Relief Canada, travelled to Somalia to support relief efforts. She said that while monetary donations are essential, the international community needs to deal with political issues in the country, such as the al-Qaida linked militant group, al-Shabab.
"We need to have some sort of solution to deal with this group, there needs to be a political solution," Ali told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel on Saturday.
"We can't be at a standby and wait while people die by the thousands."
She said that al-Shabab controls a large portion of the country and people in those areas have no access to food, water, medical care and basic sanitation.
"The U.N. needs to step up its game, it needs to pass a resolution immediately," she said. "Unless this happens we know that people will die of starvation."
The U.N. has estimated that only 20 per cent of people needing aid in Somalia are receiving it because al-Shabab complicates international aid groups' efforts to distribute food and other necessities.
Ali said there needs to be more emphasis on getting aid groups into famine-stricken areas and do the work that needs to be done.
"We know right now there are very little international NGOs allowed to work in Somalia," she said.
Influx of refugees threaten Kenya
In recent weeks, 1,500 Somali refugees have been arriving daily at the overcrowded UN-run camp in eastern Kenya.
Officials in Kenya fear the influx of Somali refugees could force long-simmering tension in the region to boil over, and police said they have already seen locals clash with refugees.
Ethnic Somalis have long inhabited northeastern Kenya, making it a destination for 400,000 famine-affected Somalis who are now in Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp.
In 1991, tens of thousands of Somalis came to Kenya after Mogadishu's last central government collapsed.
Osman Bathe, an elected official in the region, said he is torn between loyalities to his people, the Kenyan Somalis, and sympathizing with thousands of refugees.
"The old refugees have caused us a lot of troubles in terms of security and environment, yet we can't rise up against the new arrivals because doing that will be inhuman," he said.
"We share religion, language and culture. They're our Somali brothers and they're fleeing from hunger and wars."
Police say they have seen recent clashes between longtime residents and refugees.
"They are a group of locals who terrorize the refugees," said Nelson Shilunji Taliti, the police commander in Dadaab. "There is animosity between them. But it is not serious because there is no fighting going on, but it is something that can explode in the near future."
The UN has spent $2.7 million on local projects -- such as environmental projects and health facilities from 2009 to 2010 -- to try to address locals' concerns about the influx of refugees.
The UN says more than 3.2 million Somalis need food aid and 29,000 Somali children under age 5 have died.
With files from The Associated Press
