Hunger is not only a daily concern in Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Settlement, it is a source of conflict. Families line up for hours for food, and others watch from a distance knowing that they will go home empty-handed. A system designed to provide support for the most vulnerable has created division, anger, and violence among the refugees.
The Four Categories
Kakuma and Kalobeyei host hundreds of thousands of refugees from South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other countries. Their lives are categorized and shaped by a rigid classification system, which involves placing refugees into four categories:
1. Category One – receives assistance in the form of limited food from humanitarian agencies. It is never enough, but it helps them survive.
2. Category Two – receives small amounts of food through humanitarian agencies, sometimes with small amounts of cash.
3. Category Three – does not receive any food assistance. They must survive through livelihood, small businesses, or family support.
4. Category Four – receives no food assistance at all, and rely upon income and farm work or outside assistance.
Tension and Visibility
The categories were supposed to direct scarce food resources on those who are greatest at risk. In reality, hunger affects most people in the camps. People in Categories Three and Four feel abandoned, claiming there is little work in the camps, it costs a lot of money to be there, and food prices are exorbitant.
A mother, Fatuma, in Category Three says:
“They tell us to work, but how can we work if there aren’t any jobs? We have nothing. You can’t live without food. My children are sleeping on empty bellies.”
Over the past several months, frustrations have erupted. Groups from Categories three and four have begun protests, not allowing categories one and two to get their little amount of food. In one case, there are reports of burning of food distribution centres while protesting.
A Youth from category four shows his frustrations:
“We are all refugees and they act like we don’t matter. If they take food from us, they get take food from everyone.”
The Human Cost
When food distributions are obstructed or destroyed, everybody in the community suffers. Mothers cannot feed their children. Those who are elderly and sick become more ill. The workers trying to deliver this aid struggle to feel safe.
Moses, an elder in Category One stated it best in saying:
“We are all in the same boat and now we’re fighting one another. This isn’t how we survive.”
The strife over food has fueled greater mistrust amongst the refugees. It also turned what had been an incredibly competitive situation for survival into one marked by anger and resentment from the refugees against one another.
A Call for Action
The refugees in Kakuma and Kalobeyei need much more than a category list when it comes to food—they need enough food for everyone to eat, fair chances to get paid to meet their needs, and community-wide peace. Unless there is actual work to limit hunger and inequality, tensions will continue to build up, and the humanitarian crisis will become worse.
