Slideshow Dadaab : 25 years
1. MSF4915 Americo Mariano
From 1991 to 1993, approximately 300,000 Somalis fled across the Kenyan-Somali border. Most
refugees walked miles over Somalia's desolate savanna into north-eastern Kenya, and settled in
places that will become the Dadaab refugee complex.
2. MSF5767 ©Horacio Paone
MSF arrived in August 1992 to provide general healthcare, as well as preventive and nutritional care.
To respond to the most urgent needs of the Somali population, logistical teams also built water tanks
and distribution points for water supply.
3. MSF5785 ©Americo Mariano
Over 80 percent of refugees were women and children, many of whom were the victims of violence,
including rape, as they fled war-torn Somalia. Along with their exhausted parents, a high number of
children arrived in the camp suffering from severe acute malnutrition. MSF opened a feeding centre
and eight health posts.
4. MSF5765 ©Horacio Paone
The mass influx of refugees into Kenya was due to intense fighting in Mogadishu, widespread pillage
and a food crisis in the southern parts of Somalia. An emergency and casualty department was set up
by MSF in Liboi, Garissa province, for Somali refugees needing surgery.
5. MSF33650 ©Robert Malleta
1999 - Seven years after the first arrivals, MSF is still present in the Dadaab camps. Among other
medical activities, MSF is running a three year program for patients with tuberculosis, the rate of
which is high amongst the camp population. Young patients with tuberculosis come to get treatment
at the MSF hospital in Hagadera refugee camp.
6. ©Spencer Platt MSF36452
2009 - A woman, 55, rests in a wheelbarrow after making a three day journey from Somalia with
members of her family. Of the 91,000 refugees living in Dagahaley camp, nearly 60,000 had sought
safety from the war in 2008 alone.
7. ©Spencer Platt MSF36498
A security officer keeps order for hundreds of people desperate to move to a less crowded refugee
camp. As of September 2009, camps were holding three times their capacity, and lacked adequate
shelter, water and sanitation services.
8. ©Spencer Platt MSF36513
A man helps to distribute flour at a United Nations food distribution centre. Health and nutrition
surveys carried out by MSF in April 2009 in the Dagahaley camp revealed high levels of acute
malnutrition among a population already facing dwindling food aid rations.
9. MSF108141 © Lynsey Addario
By 2011, the horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and
killing others through severe malnutrition. Hundreds of Somali refugees arrive each day to Dadaab
and refugees experience ever-shrinking access to essential services such as water, sanitation, food
and shelter.
10. MSF105308 © Brendan Bannon
To deal with the influx of patients arriving in very serious condition, new feeding centres are opened
by MSF. As a result of the media pressure, emergency funding is unblocked, aid agencies scale up
their efforts and two additional camps – Kambioos and Ifo 2 - are opened to accommodate the new
arrivals.
11. ©Tom Maruko MSB4121
On 10 November 2013, the Kenyan and Somali Governments and the UNHCR sign a tripartite
agreement on voluntary repatriation of Somali nationals. MSF opposes the agreement, saying
conditions are not safe enough for a return. MSF calls for alternative solutions to be considered and
asks that assistance to the refugees will be maintained.
12. ©Tom Maruko MSB4110
Due to the deterioration of security and the kidnapping of two MSF staff from Ifo 2 in October 2011,
MSF had to withdraw all international staff from Dadaab. In August 2013, in Somalia, MSF takes the
difficult decision to leave the country after 22 years of presence because no security guarantees can
be given.
13. MSF144047 © Tom Maruko
2015 - On 6 May 2016, citing security concerns, the Government of Kenya announces it will close
Dadaab. MSF