refugees

Tens of thousands of Somali refugees fleeing the worsening food crisis and ongoing conflict in the Horn of Africa are being barred from a new aid camp that stands empty and unused while refugee families live in shocking conditions a few kilometers away.

On the day Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara is officially inaugurated in front of heads of state from around the world, more than 300,000 people remain displaced from their homes within the country and in neighboring Liberia, and they are in dire need of assistance.

Four months of violence, looting and displacement have created a humanitarian crisis which will take months and perhaps years to ease Oxfam said today.

Violent attacks and looting have forced thousands to flee Ivory Coast for Liberia over the past 24 hours, Oxfam said today. As battles continue to surround the presidential residence in Abidjan, serious violence against civilians is still reported in the west of the country.

International agency Oxfam today launched an appeal for more than $16 million to help people caught up in political violence in the West African country of Ivory Coast.

More than 100,000 people have already crossed the border from Ivory Coast to Liberia and are living in dire conditions in border villages.

International agency Oxfam today welcomed the visit of UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, to Liberia, as it called on the international community to pay greater attention to the worsening refugee crisis in the country.

International agency Oxfam today flew relief supplies for 70,000 people from the UK to Liberia. The aid is in response to the escalating humanitarian crisis as people continue to flee the political violence that continues to affect Ivory Coast.

Africa’s latest crisis is escalating into further bloodshed and suffering and risks becoming another “forgotten emergency” as thousands of Ivorian refugees flee for their lives. Oxfam is preparing to provide clean water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to refugees in Liberia.

It is the world’s biggest and fastest human displacement in over a decade.