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Blog Posts by Mark Yarnell

My Journey to Dadaab
March 25, 2013 Mark Yarnell Africa, Kenya, Somalia, Humanitarian Response, Protection & Security, Women & Children

This post originally appeared at The Refugee.

When the Kenyan government announced in December last year that all Somali refugees living in cities must move to the Dadaab refugee camp, I made plans to visit that camp. I wanted to see the place that was already home to hundreds of thousands of Somalis, and where the government planned to pack in thousands more.

Kenya’s Plan to Round-Up Refugees Demands U.S. Response
January 31, 2013 Mark Yarnell Africa, Kenya, Somalia, Humanitarian Response, Protection & Security, Women & Children

Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp is the largest of its kind in the world: a sprawling, jam-packed community housing nearly half a million vulnerable Somali refugees. During a visit this week to one section of the camp, known as Kambioos, my Refugees International colleague and I met a young Somali man named Ahmed who had just arrived by bus from Nairobi.

Kenya: Somali Refugees Under Threat
January 22, 2013 Mark Yarnell Africa, Kenya, Somalia, Humanitarian Response, Protection & Security, Women & Children

My colleague Melanie Teff and I have begun a two-week mission in Kenya to assess conditions for Somali refugees. Though we are both eager to get underway, I wish our mission was taking place under different circumstances.

This is an extremely difficult time to be a Somali in Kenya, with the government announcing last month that refugees in urban areas will have to leave the cities and report to refugee camps. The government has also shut down the registration of refugees in urban areas and instructed aid agencies to suspend urban refugee services.

Stealing From Those Who Have Nothing: The ‘Gatekeepers’ of Mogadishu
October 09, 2012 Mark Yarnell Africa, Somalia, Humanitarian Response, Protection & Security

Mogadishu is being revitalized. During the five days I spent in the Somali capital last week, I saw first-hand the city’s development and increasing vibrancy. New businesses are popping up around every corner, local markets are buzzing with commercial activity, and there are traffic jams on the streets again.

From Refugee to IDP in Somaliland
October 03, 2012 Mark Yarnell Africa, Somalia, Humanitarian Response

This post originally appeared at UN Dispatch.

“What we need most is to have our own land.”