Ramadan ‘slows down registration’ of Somali refugees

There are reports from the Horn of Africa that the supply of food to refugees fleeing the famine has been slowed by the onset of Ramadan.

Many who have crossed the border into Kenya from Somalia say they intend to fast throughout the holy Muslim month even though they’re already hungry.

There have been long queues for registration at one of the main camps in the Dabaab area in northeastern Kenya.

“You can imagine someone who has travelled by foot from Somalia for almost 20 days, 30 days, in search of food and water, who came to this camp for help… they are still waiting for registration,” said Mohammed Yusuf Hassan of the UNHCR, working in one of the Dabaab camps.

Aid workers at one camp estimate that the number of daily arrivals has doubled.

Meanwhile reports from Somalia itself speak of Islamists from the al-Shabab insurgent group blocking Western aid, and preventing people trying to flee the famine from reaching the capital Mogadishu.

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