KAKUMA REFUGEE CAMP — KENYA

I recently attended the Black Lives Matter Rally in Brisbane, Australia, advocating on behalf of Kakuma Refugees who have a shared experience of brutality at the hands of corrupt police.

I have educated myself about the situation in Kakuma through encouragement of Qaabata Boru, editor of KANERE — Kakuma News Reflector, a refugee free press run entirely by exiled journalists that reports on human rights abuses within the camp and through its publication, which voices the concerns of refugees, have effectively bought about positive changes in camp policy and procedure.

The situation in Kakuma is dire.

Since 1992 Kakuma has been providing refuge to victims of war and persecution.

To date, some 200,000 people inhabit the camp, some having resided there for over 20 years.

It is due to lack of compassion and concern from the international community that people are being wharehoused in Kakuma, left to be reliant on international aide, of which there is insufficient investment from the international community to raise them above the subsistence standards they are now forced to rely on.

Movement from the camp is restricted, making personal endeavours to prosper virtually impossible.

Disease is common due to lack of proper hygiene functionality.

They are dependent on inadequate food rations provided by the World Food Program which at times have been cut to half the recommended emergency dietary standard due to lack of funding.

They live in makeshift shelter, which due to lack of access to proper building materials has resulted in poor structural work which has ended in fatality.

Schools lack resources and are overcrowded. At times there are 100 children to a single classroom with students sitting on earthen floor, no desks or chairs available.

I have written a flyer for my community hoping to raise awareness and encourage a ground roots approach to the refugee crisis, focusing my efforts on Kakuma.

Please see attached flyer and act on some of the suggestions in your locale aswell as educate yourself about Kakuma Refugees through the kanere.org online publication.

Please!!!! Help give the people of Kakuma a VOICE!!!