Camp swells with refugees as Kenya fights terrorists

Somali refugees are pouring into Ethiopia as Kenyan troops advanced into southern Somalia. The Dolla Ado border station has swollen with 5,000 refugees.

ADDIS ABBABA, ETHIOPIA (Catholic Online) - Refugees have been fleeing southern Somalia where Islamic militants, warfare, and drought has left them to choose between fleeing home or death.

The Dollo Ado Station is filled with tents and long lines outside the camps kitchen. Men and women queue in separate lines waiting to get a small bowl of gruel that will be their only nutrition for the night. UN refugee agency workers operate out of open air corrugated metal offices and prepare for the next wave of refugees that will arrive in the morning.

On a  daily basis, at least 200 people arrive fleeing famine and warfare, as Kenyan soldiers invade Somalia in an effort to drive out the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic terrorists known al-Shabab. 
Contempt for al-Shabab is universal amongst the refugees who claim that the terrorists will not let them leave the country despite the famine that is making survival impossible. Al-Shabab prefers that innocent people starve rather than leave.

Local news reports are claiming that as Kenyan soldiers advance, they are capturing suspected al-Shabab leaders and arresting hundreds of militants. And in Nairobi, several militants were arrested after a cache of explosives was found. 

According to authorities, the 5,000 residents will be located within a few weeks, as soon as a new camp is built. There are four existing camps which are already bursting overcapacity, with 125,000 people between them. Authorities expect thousands more to arrive and squeeze in as the fighting and famine continues.

Many of the new refugees are people who initially vowed to stay on their land and have survived the dry season under very harsh conditions. However, even these hardy survivors have found that life is impossible between the callus threats of terrorists and the harsh realities of drought. Many have been forced to swallow their pride and live in a tent in the desert, as opposed to their own land, because it is the only possible way to survive.

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