Department of State
Washington, DC
October 22, 2012
Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Anne C. Richard will travel to Kenya and South Sudan, October 24-31, 2012. Assistant Secretary Richard will focus on protection and assistance for refugees in both countries, as well as review U.S. Refugee Admissions Program operations in Kenya.
Kenya currently hosts more than 630,000 refugees, most of whom are from Somalia. In Nairobi, Assistant Secretary Richard will meet with government officials and representatives of both international and nongovernmental organizations. She will also visit Kakuma refugee camp, which is home to more than 100,000 refugees, primarily from Somalia and South Sudan. She will observe reproductive health programs for refugees at Kakuma, among other assistance efforts. In Kakuma and at the Department of State’s Resettlement Support Center in Nairobi, she will meet with staff who prepare refugee applicants for resettlement in the United States.
South Sudan currently hosts more than 200,000 refugees, mostly from Sudan. Assistant Secretary Richard will visit with refugees and humanitarian staff, and observe on-going efforts to provide safe neutral settlements and meet the emergency needs of new Sudanese arrivals. There are currently some 110,000 Sudanese refugees in settlements in Maban County, and over 60,000 refugees at Yida and other sites in Unity State, double the number since April 2012. Additional refugees are expected with the coming dry season, once roads are passable. In Juba, she will meet with government officials and representatives of both international and nongovernmental organizations.
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