Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Kenya to open new refugee camp

Updated at 8:45 am on 15 July 2011

Kenya is to open a new refugee camp near its border with Somalia, for people fleeing the region's worst drought in 60 years.

The government was previously reluctant to open another camp, saying it wanted to slow the influx of refugees.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the Ifo II camp, which can fit up to 80,000 people, would open within 10 days. He earlier visited the nearby Dadaab refugee camp.

Aid workers say conditions there are desperate. The BBC reports the camp is made up of three settlements. About 370,000 people are in an area set up for 90,000 people.

Some 10 million people are said to be affected by the drought - the worst in 60 years in the Horn of Africa.

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