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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is deeply concerned about the escalation of violence that has rocked Kenya over the past week. The violence has entered a new phase, says the ICRC's head of the regional delegation in Nairobi, Pascal Cuttat. It broke out in the wake of elections but is now being driven by ethnic divisions, and there is a great risk of further deterioration.
According to Cuttat, some people have been killed in horrible circumstances, while others have been left with scars for life. Many have lost all their belongings, and hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living in temporary camps or finding refuge with relatives in other parts of the country.
The ICRC calls on all political, administrative, security and local community leaders in Kenya to do their utmost to uphold respect for life and human dignity, and to ensure that the Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies have unimpeded access to all those who require assistance.
The violence is causing untold suffering in many communities and spiralling into a succession of attacks, reprisals and counter-reprisals, says Cuttat. The longer this is allowed to continue, the more difficult it will be to return to stability and bring about some form of reconciliation. The ICRC, working with the Kenya Red Cross Society, has been distributing essential household items such as blankets, kitchen sets and mosquito nets as well as emergency food rations. It has also provided the Eldoret and Nakuru hospitals with medical supplies for treating wounded patients and sent a surgical team to Eldoret hospital. In addition, ICRC and Kenya Red Cross staff are working together to ensure that proper water and sanitation facilities are in place in camps for displaced persons.
The ICRC is also helping Kenya Red Cross tracing staff to restore contact between persons separated from their families, unaccompanied children and elderly people especially, during the recent events. The ICRC and the Kenya Red Cross are working with police, hospital and morgue officials to ensure that appropriate procedures are followed allowing the eventual identification of bodies so that families can know what happened to their loved ones who have gone missing.
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