Thousands of refugees displaced by unrest at camp

About 30,000 Sudanese refugees have been displaced from their homes within the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya, due to fighting with the local Turkana people which has claimed 11 lives. By early Tuesday morning, eight Sudanese, two Turkana and one Ethiopian (caught in crossfire) had died due to the fighting, which erupted last week when the Turkana found a missing cow in the refugee camp, Emmanuel Nyabera, spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told IRIN. Since then gangs of Turkana, some of them armed with AK-47 rifles, had attacked the camp leading to escalated fighting with the refugees who defended themselves using crude weapons. About 22,000 of the displaced refugees were staying with friends and family on Wednesday, while 8,000 were camped in schools, churches and public buildings, Nyabera said. UNHCR was providing food and water to the displaced, many of whose food stocks had been looted in the unrest, he said. Two mobile health clinics were also tending to the sick, as the main hospital in Kakuma had been forced to close. Turkana and refugee leaders, who met on Tuesday, stressed they would try and contain the violence. The Turkana complained that the UN and aid agencies operating in the area were all catering for the Sudanese instead of the local people, while the refugees said their women were being raped outside the camp while searching for firewood, as well as having their food rations stolen during raids. The population in the refugee camp is almost double that of the local Turkana community, which had led to periodic skirmishes since the camp was built in 1992. The main source of friction is competition for scarce resources, especially grazing land in the extremely arid region. Nyabera described the atmosphere in the camp as "tense" on Wednesday, but said no further killings had taken place since the Tuesday meeting. By Wednesday, 25 police had been brought in to control the situation and more were expected, he added. Further unrest was also reported in the town of Lokichokkio on Tuesday, as a spill-over from the Kakuma violence. UNHCR was forced to close its refugee transit camp in the town, where asylum seekers report on arrival in Kenya. The 335 Sudanese at the centre could not be moved, said Nyabera, because it was feared they might be attacked by the local people.