U.S. travel ban and famine put pressure on Somali refugee plight
Late January, Ahmed Ismail Shafat was full of hope.
Born and raised in the Dadaab refugee camp along the Kenya-Somalia border, the 24-year-old Somali national finally had been accepted as a refugee to the U.S. The eight-year-long vetting process seemed like it would never end at times, but Shafat was excited when his patience was finally rewarded.
And then U.S. President Donald Trump signed his controversial immigration executive order.
"We got my ticket. We were about to leave. We were just waiting," he tells The Current's guest host Kelly Crowe.
Shafat had completed last-minute medicals, taken cultural lessons. He had even bought a winter coat for his new home in Kansas City, Mo., where he dreams of studying math.
"It was very painful. Very sad. Very disappointing," Shafat says of when he learned he would be heading back to the refugee camp rather than Missouri.
A spokesperson with the United Nation Refugee Agency says Shafat's case is not unique, and adds Trump's order has left some of the most vulnerable people on the planet even more vulnerable.
"It can often be women who have been abused, who have faced violence or torture and rape, and children who are extremely disadvantaged or in dangerous situations," Yvonne Ndege tells Crowe.
Ndege says all refugees are extensively vetted by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). She adds they don't pick where they will be sent. Once they are assigned to a host country, immigration officials there will do even more vetting of resettlement candidates.
"Somalis are subject to some of the highest levels of security checks of any category of refugee traveller to the United States," Ndege explains.
Complicating matters even more for Somali refugees is the announcement that Kenya will be closing the Dadaab refugee camp in May — home to hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees.
For many refugees, going back to Somalia isn't a viable option. The militant group al-Shabaab controls large swaths of the country, plus residents are starving to death because of a worsening famine.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization says three million Somalis are currently considered "severely food insecure."
Roughly 250,000 people died during the last famine in 2011. The UN has not yet declared the current situation in Somalia a famine, and that's hampering relief efforts according to Luca Russo, senior strategy adviser on resilience with the Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations (UNFAO).
"Unfortunately, there is an attitude from the international community not to intervene unless a famine is declared," explains Russo.
"But the moment you declare a famine, that means you are already too late. That means that people have already died."
Mahad Yusuf would like to see Canada play a larger role in Somali refugee resettlement. He's the executive director of the Somali Immigrant Aid Organization, and argues Canada needs to streamline its refugee resettlement process.
Lots of Somali-born Canadians would like to help relatives come to Canada, but the process can take years.
"Millions of people are at risk today from famine," he tells Crowe.
"There is no rain, and no food. So unless we have a response from countries like Canada to lead that [resettlement] process ... it will not be an easy quick fix."
Listen to the full segment at the top of this web post.
This segment was produced by The Current's Karin Marley and Lara O'Brien.