Boats carrying over 1500 Somali refugees fleeing the ongoing violence in Yemen arrived in the port town of Bossaso on Wednesday, as resources in makeshift camps cut to short.
They become the first refugees to arrive in Somalia from the Middle-eastern country since the ceasefire deal reached by the Saudi-led coalition and Houthis rebels came into effect yesterday.
After arriving at the port, the refugees were transferred to the makeshift camps which have now been crowded, already suffering from a funding shortfall.
Puntland officials have said that the huge influx of the refugees was larger than the anticipated and appealed to the Humanitarian organizations to intervene the situation.
‘’We need help from the International community and aid organizations to deal with the refugee crisis,’’ said the deputy Interior Minister of Puntland, while addressing Journalists at the port.
Large numbers of refugees are expected to arrive in the region in the upcoming days. So far, over 5000 refugees have arrived in Puntland and Somaliland regions by their own from Yemen by boats.
Preparatory work to remove more Somali nationals trapped in Yemen is being done by the Somali government in collaboration with IOM during the ceasefire deal.
Horseed Media
Somalia: Refugees continue to stream into Puntland, overwhelm camp amid short supplies
Published: May 13, 2015