Dadaab: The World's Largest Refugee Camp
Witness History: Witness Archive 2017 - A podcast by BBC World Service
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In the early 1990s, Somalia was consumed by civil war and famine. Millions fled their homes. Many tried to reach neighbouring Kenya in search of survival. In response, the UN set up a refugee camp complex at Dadaab, in a remote part of Eastern Kenya. It became the largest refugee camp in the world. At its height Dadaab was home to 500,000 refugees, most of them Somalis. But the Kenyan government has now announced that it will close down the camp and return the refugees to Somalia. We hear the story of Zamzam Abdi Gelle, a young woman who arrived in Dadaab 25 years ago, after her family was attacked in war torn Somalia. Photo: Dadaab refugee camp in 2011 (BBC)