Africa 24 Media Photography

On June 20th every year, hundreds of countries come together in thought and compassion to honour the strength, resilience courage and will to survive of thousands of refugees across the globe. The day is a United Nations designated Day, and Africa, which has the largest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world unite together with the developed world to celebrate this day. Everyday in Africa, people become statistics being included in the already swollen list of refugees.

Daadab refugee camp in Kenya is the largest in the world, with most of its residents coming from war-torn Somalia. Whichever parts of the countries the refugees seek and find refuge, the story is ever the same; deplorable living conditions, malnutrition, moribund healthcare system, diseases including cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and suddenly death. Half the world's refugees reside in camps in sub-Saharan Africa. The UN estimates around 5.7 million refugees are trapped in long-term displacements - caused largely by long-running violent conflict. Last year (2008), 14.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) were registered as living under UN care, compared to 13.7 million in 2007. Of these IDPs, 11.6 million are left to either fend for themselves or receive assistance from other agencies. In Africa, war-torn countries of Democratic Republic of Congo with 1.5m IDPs and Somalia, with 1.3m, not including 2009 displacements lead the numbers in Africa. Other estimates put the numbers even higher. Most of refugees and IDPs have fled their homes because of civil conflicts, tribal wars, poor governance instigated by erroneous and avaricious political leadership, among others. The daily movement of refugees in Africa means that the continent is perpetually on the move. Sadly, the international community has not gone beyond just providing emergency relief to the people who are far from home and with no options. In fact, nobody has tried to deal with the root causes of displacement. 

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