Somalis flee terrorism, pour into Kenya

An insurgency started soon afterward, and remains a potent and disruptive force. Rebels set land mines and attack police posts and the Ethiopian troops respond with deadly force, witnesses say.

The country also is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis aggravated by high global food prices and drought.

Dr. James Ndirangu, who works at a hospital in Dadaab, said the new arrivals display a range of problems — from malnutrition and psychosis to rape, torture and blast injuries.

"People come in with deformities," he said. "Missing eyes. Missing limbs."

Mental health problems
He said mental health problems are rampant in the camp. He keeps a poster on the wall of the hospital detailing 10 danger signals of suicide.

"Loss of a loved one," reads one, "and a persistent wish to die."

Hassan, 14, was among several teenagers who said militiamen would troll around schools — sometimes even entering classrooms — to recruit boys as fighters.

"It happened twice a month," said Hassan, who came to Dadaab with her parents six months ago after armed men kidnapped two children from the school bus.

"The teachers couldn't stop them, because teachers can't stop a man with a gun," she said.

But while the camp is safer than lawless Mogadishu, Dadaab offers only the most meager existence. Designed to help desperate people survive, the camp was never meant to be a long-term home.

"Dadaab is my home, but it's a prison, too," said Hakimo Adow Sandur, an 18-year-old who came here in 1991. "I know this place was never meant to be permanent, but it is permanent for me."

Many longtime refugees lament the fact that they cannot leave the camp to make a life in Kenya. The government has strict rules requiring them to stay, arguing that integration into Kenyan life is not a "durable solution" for refugees.

Limited options
There are schools here, but only 4 percent of teachers are professionally trained. There is approximately one latrine for every 20 people. Materials such as tarps and mud bricks, used to build shelters, are distributed to new arrivals, but quickly degenerate in the sand and harsh sun.

Food, such as maize meal and vegetable oil, is doled out twice a month.

Options for the future are limited.

Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, peered into a hut housing Fatuma Abbas Muse, 66, who came here in 1991 — the year the camp was established. He asked her to compare life in Somalia to life in Dadaab.

"Here, you feel better?" he asked.

Muse, who sleeps on a dirt floor surrounded by pots and jerry cans, answered quickly.

"At least I feel peaceful here," she said.

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