In August, Haret Abdirahman’s 24-year-old son committed suicide in Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab. His father recalls how his son kept talking about how difficult life was at the camp during Covid-19 without a source of income. For Abdirahman, a fatal mix of pent-up despair, anxiety and fear brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic forced refugees like his son to take extreme measures. As of September, Kenya, which is one of the countries hosting the highest number of refugees in Africa, had 447,141 refugees and 51,218 asylum seekers. Following this, the refugees, especially women, children and the elderly in 2020 were at a high risk of becoming malnourished.

Source: The Star December 29, 2020 09:00 UTC