“This is the first food I’ve eaten in four days,” Habiba Mohammad Hassan, a 17 year old Somali tells me as we wedged ourselves into the back of a truck with over 40 other refugees and opens a packet of high energy biscuits. Hassan, and 150 others, just spent the last two days crossing the Sea of Aden fleeing war in Somalia and arrived on the beach in Yemen just hours before we met.

We are in route from the landing spot to the refugee camp about an hour away. Many are suffering from heat execution and dehydration. When we arrive at the camp, we are greeted by dozens of other refugees waiting to see if some of their family might be on the latest arrival. UNHCR is receiving on average 2,000 refugees per month and the camp is growing to over 15,000. Many families will stay here in the camp, some have been here for years, but most will continue on to look for work in the Gulf nations. In all, Yemen has close to 180,000 refugees.

For now, the new arrivals are going to eat an actual cooked meal, get rehydrated, and settle in to their new tent home.

Africa may feel like it’s thousands of miles away, until you come to this refugee camp and it’s strange to see the effects of war spilling onto a different continent. To see the lengths people will go to get out of their situation.

The war in Somalia has been going since 1992 so I asked Hassan why she decided to leave now, as apposed to a year ago or 2 years ago, what was the catalyst I wondered. She told me that the final straw was, “when they came into my house and cut out my sisters eyes and then cut off her head.” “When I saw this, I could no longer stay.”

These are the days that when you are hot and thirsty and feeling like you need a break, you feel like such a jackass for even thinking these thoughts.

I spent the next few hours driving back to Aden and sitting by the sea enjoying the cool breeze trying to process yet another devastating situation I’ve just witnessed and my responsibility to be a witness for these people. When I got on my flight back to Sana’a I sat next to Yemeni that spoke English. He recognized that I was a photographer and asked if I was in Aden as a tourist. I told him no, that I was a journalist spending the day in the Somali refugee camp. He had no idea what I was talking about. Not too hopeful when most Westerners don’t know where Yemen is on a map. 

 

Habiba Mohammad Hassan, sitting in the truck in route to the refugee camp.

 

Refugees pour out of the trucks and are greeted by friends they haven’t seen in years.

 

Distribution of food cards in the camp.

 

The first hot meal they will have had in 3 weeks. Saudi Arabia donates several metric tons of dates to the camp. 

 

 

 

New arrival walks to the well.

 

A new arrival, an 11 year old girl, passes out from heat exhaustion. 

 

New arrivals settle in to their new home at the camp.

 

Vocational training facility.

 

Vocational training facility.

 

 

 

Ending the day looking across the sea at Aden.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Africa, Observations, Photojournalism, The Middle East, Travel, Yemen, refugees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.