(ANS – Dolo Ado) – Since the end of August Mattia Grandi, a volunteer with the Salesian NGO VIS (International Voluntary service for Development), with many other social workers has been busy in the refugee camp for Somalis  at Dolo Ado, in the Somaly Region, in Ethiopia.

After travelling for over a 1000 km in the Ethiopian desert, Dr. Grandi reached the camp at  Dolo Ado: There are four others already overcrowded: Bokolmayo, Melkadida, Kobe, and more recently Helaweyn. It is estimated that there are about 150,000 people there.  This is what he has to say.

“There is a mixture of Ethiopians, Kenyans,  and  Somalis, fleeing from the war and famine. There are here and there the signs of the international humanitarian organisations and agencies. We are the guests of one of the NGO of Coopi.

First updates we are given are not encouraging: although the numbers have dropped there is still a constant flow of arrivals. On some days 200 refugees arrive, on others 1000, and a few weeks ago 2000 were arriving each day at a pre-camp registration centre for refugees on the frontier with Somalia.

You see at once that by far the greater number are women and children. It is quite common to finds families made up of a woman and  4-5 children of various ages. These women whth extraordinary determination have experienced the violence, rapes, and looting  of  Al-Shabaab, (a rebel group of Islamists active in Somalia and Ethiopia, ed) drought, death of cattle loss of family members, the long maech in the desert, sickness, and again the l Al-Shabaab. The conditions in which most of the refugees arrive is tragic:: malnutrition, lung illnesses, infection of the intestines are only some of the burdens they carry on their bent backs, while their eyes betray their pains and and disappointments.

The development of the conflict and the continuing drought  have led to huge movements of peoples and internal migration with  thousands of displaced persons seeking ways of escape, and the situation is constantly precarious.

Those contributing most in the situation are the NGO and International Organisations.  VIS has received an invitation to work directly with the Ethiopian Government  through the Government Agency for Refugees, (ARRA), because of its previous experience and success in other refugee camps (Jijiga zone, camps in Aw-barre and Sheder, in 2008). Specifically  VIS has been asked to organise food in the Transit Camp in Dolo Ado.

VIS continues operating on twp fronts the immediate response to emergencies and preparing the groundwork for further development projects  which could possibly prevent new  humanitarian emergencies. In this way VIS in ensuring support not only for thousands of Somali refugees but also the displaced people in Southern Ethiopia and so avoid conflicts over the resources in these two areas and find the people a better future.”

Published 14/09/2011