1

A refugee woman washing clothes at the Transit Centre in Dollo Ado where some 15,000 refugees are awaiting relocation

to the newly developed Hilaweyn camp. (photo: K. G.Egziabher/UNHCR)

Highlights:

• Relocation from transit centre to the new Hilaweyn camp is expected to begin on Wednesday, 03 August with a daily movement of 1,000 refugees. The planned movement is expected to empty the transit centre which is currently hosting some 15,000 refugees waiting to be relocated to the new camp.

• IOM has joined the emergency response effort and has been assigned responsibility for the transportation of refugees from the border reception centre to the Transit Centre for registration and from the Transit Centre to the camps.

• Installation of basic infrastructure in the new site of Hilaweyn camp continues

• Consultations with Civil Aviation Authorities are being pursued for the extension of the airstrip in Dollo Ado by 200 metres. Extended airstrip will provide 15 percent passenger increase.

• Arrival rate remains at between 250 to 300 persons per day, largely due to reported food assistance inside Somalia.

Emergency Update Dollo Ado, Ethiopia 01 August 2011

2

Current situation All efforts in the Dollo Ado area are now focused on the start of relocation of refugees from the Transit Centre to the newly-developed Hilaweyn camp. The start date for this exercise has been set for Wednesday, 03 August. An estimated 1,000 refugees per day will be moved from the transit centre to the Hilaweyn camp by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) which has been requested by UNHCR to assist with the transportation of refugees. IOM is already transporting newly arriving refugees from the border reception centre to the Transit Centre. Movement will be according to date of arrival in the transit centre

beginning with those who arrived first. Particular attention will be given to those with special needs. The relocation exercise is expected to empty the transit centre which currently holds more than 15,000 refugees placing tremendous strain on shelter as well as various services such as water and sanitation at the centre. Refugees living on the outskirts of the Transit Centre will then be moved there once space is made available in the Transit Centre. This will ensure better conditions for the refugees awaiting transfer to the new camp.

In Hilaweyn, UNHCR and partners continue to work to ensure that the opening date of the new camp is realized. Trucking of water to the new site from the Treatment plant in Malkadida – another camp some 30 kms away, began on Monday 1 August and is expected to ensure initial water supplies for up to 3,000 people which will be gradually increased to meet the needs of up to 10,000 people by the end of the week. Temporary health facilities, in particular, an outpatient clinic is being set up by MSF-Holland and is expected to be functional by Wednesday, 03 August to ensure the medical screening of refugees transferred from the Transit Centre. Food supplies provided by the World Food Programme were also expected in Hilaweyn by 1 August. On shelter, more

than 300 tents for up to 1,500 people have already been erected. The tent construction effort was boosted by an additional workforce brought in from the Kobe camp to increase the daily capacity for tent assembly to 200 tents per day. Meanwhile, the arrival rate has remained steady at an average 270 refugees/day during the period 25 – 30 July. This is largely due to the reported food assistance inside Somalia. Recent arrivals are reported to be in better health status. They are very clear that they have been driven out by continuing violence and drought and are better informed about the available services and support in the camps.

UNHCR Sub Office Dollo is located in the Dollo Ado District in Liben Zone of the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia. The Sub Office was established in February 2009 to provide International Protection and assistance to Somali refugees fleeing violence in Somalia. The first camp, Bokolmanyo, located some 85km from Dollo Ado town was established in April 2009 and had, as at 30 July, a population of 37,292 refugees. Malkadida which was opened in February 2010 now shelters some 39,500 refugees. A third camp, Kobe which was opened on 24 June 2011 reached its capacity of 25,000 refugees within weeks. A fourth camp – Hilaweyn – is currently under development with an initial capacity of 40,000. An extension to the camp, if needed, could shelter an additional 20,000. At present some 15,000 refugees are at the transit centre awaiting relocation to the fourth camp.

3

With the registration backlog at the transit centre cleared last week, registration teams are now able to register newly-arriving refugees on the same day of arrival at the transit centre. This has freed up registration capacity which has been deployed to the three camps of Bokolmanyo, Malkadida and Kobe to clear the backlog of registration of new-born babies and ensure continuous registration activities at each camp. The level of malnutrition in children remains a concern. Health partners expect to widen complementary feeding programmes currently targeting children under five years of age to include children from ages five – 15 years of age. This latter category has been found to be equally affected by malnutrition. At the same time to ensure that families do not continue to share or sell rations meant for the treatment of moderately acute malnutrition, health partners have now introduced a programme for the distribution of additional rations for families with children admitted into programmes for the treatment of malnutrition. The families will continue to receive the additional rations called “protection rations” until the child or children in the family are discharged from the treatment programme. These additional rations are expected to improve the overall nutritional conditions of the affected families. More cases of malnutrition are being identified in Kobe and Malkadida camps. This may however be due in part to active identification and improved coverage by Community Health Workers. Meanwhile, health and nutritionpartners – MSF-Spain, MSF-Hollan, Save the Children (US), ARRA, IMC and ACF have agreed to use the UNHCR Health Information Systems reporting tools. This should ensure more systematic and up-to-date statistics on public health, nutrition, water and sanitation indicators in each camp. On co-ordination, an inter-agency meeting with all organizations working in the Dollo Ado area was held to streamline the implementation of refugee programmes. The meeting was attended by senior ARRA and UNHCR officials. In the meantime, coordination also continues at Addis Ababa level with the meeting of the Standing Task Force co-chaired by ARRA and UNHCR. Please see the statistical tables here below for a full breakdown.

Table 1.1- Total Refugee Population in Dollo Ado (as of 30 July 2011)

Current Total Site/Camp Households Individuals

Bokolmanyo Camp 9,305 37,292 Malkadida Camp 9,724 39,501

Kobe Camp 5,510 24,956

Hilaweyn camp -- --

Camp Sub-Total 24,539 101,749

Dollo Ado Transit Centre 3,695 15,087 Reception Centre ---- -----

Temporary Locations Sub-Total 3,695 15,087 Grand Total All Locations 28,234 116,836

These figures are in addition to over 41,000 Somali refugees hosted in three refugee camps in the Jijiga area

Table 1.2 - Arrival Trends in 2011 (Border Reception Centre)

Month Households Individuals

4

January 2011 1,502 6,792

February 2011 527 2,016

March 2011 1,019 4,072

April 2011 1,650 6,749

May 2011 2,587 12,045

June 2011 7,030 24,042

July 2011 4463 19,610

Total 18,295 75,316* * These stats were provided by the government (ARRA) prior to registration by UNHCR

Statistics for locations other than Dollo Ado as at 30 June 2011 Camps/Sites Households Individuals

Addis Ababa 1,231 2,389

Adi Harush (Eritrean) 8,473 10,125

Mai-Aini (Eritrean) 10,840 13,289

Shimelba (Eritrean) 5,022 8,734

Eritrean Afars 4,984 15,297

Fugnido (Sudanese) 4,721 22,282

Sherkole (Sudanese) 1,689 3,865

Borena (Kenyan) 637 2,757

Aw-barre (Somali) 2,561 13,226

Kebribeyah 2,135 16,716

Sheder 2,926 11,456

Total 45,219 120,131

5

Here below is the refugee camp location map of Ethiopia

Coordination arrangements: Some 17 partners, including ARRA, are part of the implementation arrangement in providing protection and assistance to the refugees in the three Dollo Ado camps as well as in the Reception and Transit centres. Most have signed sub-agreements with UNHCR as implementing partners while some are operational partners. An agreement has been reached on the coordination arrangements, in particular, who is doing what and where to ensure effective delivery of services as well as accountability and monitoring. The agreement has been discussed and agreed with the government and all NGO partners.

The table below shows who does what

Sector Implementing agency(ies) Registration ARRA/UNHCR Camp management ARRA

6

Water IRC/LWF/Oxfam GB Sanitation & hygiene promotion ARRA/Oxfam GB/LWF/IMC Nutrition (TFP & SFP) MSF-S/IMC/ACF Blanket feeding ARRA/IMC/SC-US School feeding ARRA/SC-US Hot meals ARRA Primary health care & health promotion ARRA/MSF-S/MSF-H Mental health IMC Child friendly spaces SC-US Emergency education SC-US Primary education (1-8) ARRA SGBV PAPDA/IMC/IRC Environment PAPDA/PWO Food supply WFP Food distribution ARRA NFI distribution ARRA/UNHCR Shelter AHA/NRC/DRC/UNHCR

Shelter production AHADA

Transporting refugees IOM

Coordination on Refugees UNHCR/ARRA

External Relations: There is a growing interest on the part of donors and the media to visit the Dollo Ado area both for assessment of the situation and for press coverage. In spite of difficulties related to accessibility, the following groups managed to visit the area between 25-30 July 2011: Visitors Facilitated in Addis Facilitated in the field

Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation

Spanish Emb./UNHCR UNHCR/ARRA

Donor Embassy representatives WFP/UNHCR ARRA/WFP/UNHCR Media:

• Aljazeera

• DER TAGESSPIEGEL

UNHCR/ARRA

UNHCR/ARRA

END