“UNHCR is particularly concerned that thousands of refugees and other displaced people have been forced to flee for their lives once again after their homes were inundated,” the agency said in a statement. In Kenya, some 20,000 people in Dadaab refugee camps – which host more than 380,000 refugees – have been displaced by the rising waters, UNHCR said. “Many of them are among those who arrived over the past two years, having fled severe drought in neighbouring Somalia,” UNHCR said. In Burundi, some 32,000 refugees – nearly half the country’s refugee population – are living in flood-affected areas, it said. “Access to food and other essential supplies is increasingly difficult as prices have risen due to high canoe fees to transport goods,” it said. Education has been disrupted as classrooms have flooded and learning materials destroyed, UNHCR said. “Rental prices have doubled, making it too expensive for many refugee families to relocate, leaving them with little choice but to stay in their flooded homes,” it said. In Somalia, more than 46,000 internally displaced people in five southern locations have been displaced by flash floods. The same is true in Tanzania where more than 200,000 refugees, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, have been forced to flee. In Kenya, UNHCR is providing refugees with relief items including tarpaulins, mosquito nets, hygiene kits, soap and jerry cans, with a focus on the elderly and people with disabilities. In Burundi, as part of the government-led inter-agency response, UNHCR will provide shelter kits and cash assistance to help refugees. “In Tanzania, we are working with local partners to rehabilitate refugee shelters. In Somalia, critical protection assistance is being provided and essential household items are being distributed to displaced families,” it said. Climate change is making many parts of the world – especially fragile regions like East Africa and the Horn of Africa – increasingly unliveable, it warned. “Storms are more devastating. Wildfires have become commonplace. Floods and droughts are intensifying. Some of these impacts are irreversible and threaten to become even more severe, and displaced people are bearing the brunt of the impact,” it said. These floods expose gaps in preparedness and rapid response, UNHCR said. “Available funding for climate change impacts is not reaching forcibly displaced people and the communities hosting them,” it warned. In April 2024, UNHCR launched its first-ever Climate Resilience Fund to bolster support for refugees, displaced communities and their hosts in the face of rising extreme weather events. Read Also: Death toll from Kenya floods rises to 210