Nine deaths through suicide in Kenya’s largest camp, Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northern Eastern in 2017 have raised a red flag.
A mental health officer and a psychologist for U.S aid group, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Alex Kalatu, told Reuters at the camp that in 2017, he treated 46 patients with suicidal thoughts compared to 2016 when he only treated 13 patients for the same.
Further, compared to 2016 when only three deaths through suicide were reported, the sharp increase in the same for 2017 leaves more questions than answers.
Aid workers recently confiscated knives, wire, battery acid, rat poison and ropes for fear the refugees could use them for suicide. No reasons have been provided yet for the nine suicides by doctors.
Kakuma is located at the border of Kenya and South Sudan. It houses about 185, 000 refugees from Somalia, South Sudan and other states from East Africa where civil war is a reality.
Aids group working at the vast refugee camp say the situation has deteriorated for the last one year as U.S President Donald Trump engages tough immigration rules which has reduce the amount of aid the U.S provides to such camps.
Besides, U.S has played as a major host to resettled refuges. Currently, under Trump’s administration, only 45,000 refugees are allowed to the U.S this year compared to 2016 during Barrack Obama’s tenure as U.S President when he set a limit of refugees entering US for resettlement at 110,000.
The stringent immigration rules by Trump have set an emotional stress precedent for the refugees in Kakuma.
“Many people here who were in the US resettlement process and thought one day they would benefit are now experiencing severe emotional distress. People say, ‘Now I’m hopeless’. Why should I live? Kalatu said.
Halima Abdi Mohammed, a 30-year-old refugee from Somalia at the Kakuma camp is a victim of the new immigrations laws by U.S government.
She says she had applied for resettlement to the U.S in 2013, just before she got married to her husband Moussa. She completed all checks required including the medical one just before Trump took office.
But to her dismay, she learnt they would never get to the U.S. Her husband hanged himself out of depression.
A U.S. State Department spokeswoman when asked about the growing trend of mental health issues at the Kenyan refugee camp said: “The Department of State has provided long-standing, generous support for the refugee response in Kenya and globally. This includes programmes that support the health of refugees, including mental health.”
Joshua Meservey, Africa’s analyst at the Heritage Foundation and a conservative US think-tank told Reuters that resettlement should only target the refugees who are in dire need.
“Resettlement should only be for people who are genuinely stuck, who cannot go home and cannot stay where they are.”
The situation is no better at Daadab Refugee Camp in Garissa where 235,000 refugees of Somali origin, are holed up.
Aids group here, IRC and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), told Reuters that cases of depression, compared to 2016, doubled in 2017. MSF conducted 5,500 psychological consultations in its clinics in Daadab last year.
Alfred Davies Jr, MSF’s Dadaab field coordinator said the increase of depression cases among refugees at the camp is attributed to stress brought about by confusion over the new immigration policies by Trump.
“Many are confused, caught up in a limbo due to the uncertainty of their future,” said Davies.
British aid group, Save the Children too, said, the situation at Daadab has deteriorated.
Caleb Odhiambo, who runs Save the Children’s education and child protection programmes in the camp, said some refugees who had pulled their kids out of school with hope of flying to the States are frustrated after learning that their applications to immigrate to the US have been put on hold.
They now complain of suffering from “bufis” a Somali terminology referring to one being homesick and wanting to leave.