By John Oywa and Boniface Ongeri
International humanitarian organisations began pulling their staff from the Dadaab refugee camps a day after Al-Shabaab militants shot a Kenyan and kidnapped two Spanish doctors.
Sources at Dadaab told the Standard On Saturday that a number of NGOs that have been helping thousands of Somali refugees are evacuating their staff to Nairobi for fear of more Al-Shabaab attacks.
The two doctors attached to the Medicines Sans Frontieres – MSF (Doctors without Borders) who were kidnapped outside their camp on Thursday have not been found. Their Kenyan driver who suffered gunshot wounds has since been flown to Nairobi for specialised treatment.
The impact of the Thursday attack was already being felt in Ifo, Hagadera and Dagahaley camps, where thousands of sick refugees, majority of them children, rely on volunteer doctors and nurses.
"I think the attack was meant to scare away aid workers from Dadaab and stop Somali nationals fleeing their homes from entering Kenya," said a nurse working with MSF.
The Al-Shabaab militants had in the past tried to block the refugees mainly from Bay, Bakool, Gedo and Jubaland from crossing into Kenya. The MSF is operating a 170 bed in Dagahalay and five health outreach posts in the refugees’ camps to treat hundreds of sick children and the medical care would be adversely affected should the organisation decide to suspend its operations.
Other organisations working in Dadaab include Save the Children UK, International Rescue Committee, World Food Programme, Care International and German Technical Cooperation among others.
It has also emerged that the gunmen involved in the kidnap ordeal have been living at the camps as refugees, an indication that Al-Shabaab fighters may have infiltrated the camps. North Eastern Province PPO Leo Nyongesa ruled out any possibilities of the kidnapped being in the country saying they might have crossed to neighbouring Somalia.
There is also thorough screening of visitors to the UN residential compound that hosts numerous agencies including United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Care and World Food Programme. Some of the foreign aid workers include those of European countries.
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