Refugee situation in Africa

Refugee situation in Africa

By Lilian Kaivilu

Joshua Muramira, 26, is among the 621,000 citizens from the Democratic Republic of Congo who have been displaced in 2015 alone.

The first born in a family of eight urges fellow Africans to desist from any form of conflict that is likely to leave fellow countrymen as refugees.

“I have found a warm country here in Kenya. Apart from the difficulties in getting a job, I enjoy the peace here,” says Muramira.

His experience with conflict is well depicted in the newly launched report about displacement in Africa.

Refugee situation in Africa: A child stands in front of her home at a refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya,(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

The 2016 Africa Report on Internal Displacement picture of Africa refugee crisis report by the internal displacement monitoring centre, conflict and violence in African countries saw 2.4 million people displaced from their homes.

Another 1.1 million people living in Africa were displaced in 2015 as a result of disasters.

In Kenya alone, 105,000 people were displaced due to disasters. However, no Kenyan was affected by conflict.

The report released in December 2016 states that a quarter of those affected by conflict in Africa were from the DRC while 30 per cent were from Nigeria.

About 1.2 million people were displaced in East Africa. This was attributed to the unresolved conflict in Sudan, Somalia and South Sudan.