To see this news alert with links to the sources click here
Kenya: 2,000 homes destroyed by flash floods
Since early April, torrential rain and floods across various parts of Kenya have displaced more than 2,000 households and killed at least 36 people, according to a recent assessment conducted by the government with the Kenya Red Cross Society and partners. To date, the floods continue to submerge homes, and destroy livestock and crops as thousands are forced to flee.
As of April 27th, the latest area affected is Kisumu County and its outskirts, where heavy rains over three days have led to the River Awach bursting its banks. In Taita Taveta County, IDPs who lost their homes and livelihoods are now in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.
While there is an urgent need for food, non-food items, shelter, water and sanitation, soon recovery and reconstruction of homes and livelihoods will be equally important for displaced families to restart their lives. The impact of annual rains in Kenya has also highlighted a need for greater attention to preparedness and prevention.
See also: IDMC Kenya country page
Sudan/South Sudan: 20,000 people displaced by clashes over oil territory
According to humanitarian sources, some 20,000 people have been displaced since April 20 by fighting between Sudanese and South Sudanese armed forces in the border areas around the Heglig oil region in South Kordofan, Sudan.
In retaliation to the occupation of Heglig for 10 days by the South Sudanese in a bid to assert claims over the disputed territory, the Sudanese army launched air strikes from across the border in Unity State. The occupation ended on April 20 but cross-border air raids have continued. While this event has added significantly to the numbers of people uprooted from their homes, elsewhere in South Kordofan an escalation in fighting between Sudanese forces and rebels from the SPLM-N has also caused further displacement.
Since South Sudan’s independence in July last year, the on-going cross-border fighting continues to disrupt movements of returnees from Sudan to South Sudan. While the IOM reports that up to 375,000 have returned to the south, the UN estimates that some 700,000 southerners, who had been internally displaced before secession of South Sudan, remained in Khartoum at the end of 2011. Despite an established deadline for southerners residing in Sudan to regularise their status by 8 April 2012, this group remain in legal limbo in Sudan and risks being exposed arrest and detention on immigration charges.
See also: IDMC Sudan and South Sudan country pages