UNHCR calls for actions as persistent rainfall across Africa displaces many

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has expressed concern over the rising number of displaced persons following the persistent rainfall across regions of Africa.

In a statement on Friday, the UNHCR said thousands of people, including refugees, have been displaced from their homes due to heavy rains in Central and East Africa.

The UN refugee agency said the flooding witnessed in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania are triggered by El Niño-induced rains.

“Without help to prepare for, withstand and recover from climate-related shocks, they face an increased risk of further displacement,” the UNHCR said.

Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi are also countries experiencing abnormally heavy rains this season.

Earlier this week, President William Ruto of Kenya convened a special cabinet meeting to discuss measures to tackle the floods that have killed at least 120 people and forced thousands of residents from their homes since March.

The UNHCR said nearly 20,000 people in Dadaab refugee camps in northeastern Kenya, which host more than 380,000 refugees, have been displaced due to the rising water levels.

Many of them were among those who arrived in the past couple of years after fleeing severe drought in neighbouring Somalia.

The UN agency said the floods expose gaps in preparedness and early action, noting that the funding available to address the impacts of climate change is not reaching those forcibly displaced or the communities hosting them.