DJIBOUTI: "Humanitarian needs overlooked"

NAIROBI, 31 July (IRIN) - Djibouti's humanitarian needs have been overlooked and donor response to a drought emergency poor, according to the non-governmental organisation Refugees International (RI). Djibouti was known as the port of entry for food aid for the region, but "hungry Djiboutians witness convoys of trucks bound for Ethiopia", it stated.

In the past few months, Djibouti's population has swelled with illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries, and there were increasing rates of malnutrition in children under five, RI said. Officials and camp elders at Ho-Hol and Ali Adde refugee camps in the south of the country had reported that migrants were arriving at camps in search of food and water, it said. Refugees at Ali Adde were sharing their rations with new arrivals, "placing their own food security at risk", Refugees International said.

Despite the effects on Djibouti of the continuing drought, and appeals for food relief, "the government and UN agencies had yet to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the situation", RI stated. It called for livestock assessment, and the monitoring of nutrition and migration rates.

It also called for UNICEF to expand its funding for supplementary and therapeutic feeding centres outside Djibouti city. Judged on a per capita basis, Djibouti was "the most severely drought-affected country in the region", with one-sixth of its 600,000 population affected, RI added.