SOMALIA / UNHCR AIRLIFT

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) sent thousands of tents to ease the overcrowding at Dadaab refugee complex near the Kenya-Somalia border. On Sunday, 100 tonnes of tents were airlifted on a UNHCR-chartered Boeing 747 from the agency's stockpile in Kuwait to the Kenyan capital Nairobi. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:09
• Production Date: 18 July 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS
• Geographic Subject: SOMALIA
• MAMS Id: U110718a

Description

STORY: SOMALIA / UNHCR AIRLIFT
TRT: 1.09
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 17 JULY 2011, NAIROBI, KENYA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, Boeing at the airport
2. Med shot, Supplies being unloaded
3. Med shot, Supplies transported
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ron Redmond, spokesman, UNHCR: "Altogether we’re going to bring in some 600 tones of tents.”
5. Wide shot, supplies being moved
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ron Redmond, spokesman, UNHCR:
“Every other day this week we will be sending convoys up to Dadaab refugee camp and all of these tents will be going to Dadaab.”
7. Med shot, Redmond with staff
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ron Redmond, spokesman, UNHCR:
“At the same time, we’re mounting an airlift to Ethiopia, because the problem with the refugees in Ethiopia is just as serious as it is here.”
9. Wide shot, supplies being moved
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ron Redmond, spokesman, UNHCR:
“Between Ethiopia and Kenya, we’re receiving about 3,000 new refugees a day. Dadaab is absolutely packed, it’s now four times the capacity it was built for, with 1,500 more refugees coming every day."
11. Various shots, UNHCR workers at the airport
12. Various shots, supplies with logo UNHCR

Storyline

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) sent thousands of tents to ease the overcrowding at Dadaab refugee complex near the Kenya-Somalia border. On Sunday (17 July), 100 tonnes of tents were airlifted on a UNHCR-chartered Boeing 747 from the refugee agency’s stockpile in Kuwait to the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

From the Nairobi airport, the tents were loaded onto trucks and taken to Dadaab camp, which received some 60,000 recent arrivals from conflict, and drought affected Somalia so far this year. Many of the refugees are in desperate need of shelter, food and medical attention.

Four additional flights this week will bring 6,600 more tents to Kenya from UNHCR’s stocks in Pakistan.

UNHCR’s spokesman Ron Redmond said that at the same time, UNHCR was mounting an airlift to Ethiopia, because the problem with the refugees in Ethiopia is “as serious as it is here”. He said that between Ethiopia and Kenya, the camp is receiving about 3,000 new refugees a day.

He added that Dadaab camp was “absolutely packed”; it’s now four times full the capacity it was built for, with 1,500 more refugees coming every day.Today (18 July) UNHCR will also start a series of airlifts into Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, carrying a total of 20,000 tents bound for Dollo Ado on the Ethiopia-Somalia border.

Those airlifts would support UNHCR’s efforts to help more than 430,000 Somali refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia, including 164,000 who have arrived in both countries since the beginning of the year. Some 3,000 continue to arrive daily in the two countries, fleeing continuing insecurity, drought and hunger in Somalia.