By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
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LIBOI, Kenya, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Fearful of guns, 15-year-old Abdi Ali knew he had to flee to Kenya to avoid being recruited by powerful Somali Islamists.The religious movement, which controls a swathe of south-central Somalia, wanted Ali and his friends as fighters for their cause as they extend their grip over the Horn of Africa country, raising tensions with a weak interim government.
Deciding to leave, Ali and his friends trekked for over a week from the southern port of Kismayu to reach the border town of Liboi in neighbouring northeastern Kenya.
"They told us to carry their guns for them, to be part of their troops," he said. "But all we want is peace and security."
Ali has spent two nights in a transit camp in Liboi, where thousands fleeing Somalia for fear of conflict have poured in during the last week.
Leaving a nation that plunged into anarchy in 1991, they hope to start afresh in the Dadaab refugee camps some 100 km (62 miles) away.
Trucks full of families with their dearest possessions roll in every day for screening. Those unable to afford the drive endure hunger, thirst and fatigue on their arduous treks.
Once in Liboi, they sleep under tents or trees, waiting to be taken by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR to Dadaab, where about 162,000 refugees live in flimsy shacks on sandy, barren terrain strewn with thorn bushes.
Mohamed Kariyi Hajir, tired and emaciated after fleeing the town of Afgoye near the Islamist-controlled capital Mogadishu, says he has to rely on others in Liboi to provide his six children with something to eat while he waits to go to Dadaab.
"I had to borrow a little porridge from well-wishers," said the 56-year-old herder, who lost all his cattle to drought.
"It was all for the children, nothing for the parents."
DESPERATE
A local youth group has brought the refugees water and rice.
"These people are desperate," Liboi resident Ali Clay said as his friends unloaded the goods.
Some 35,000 Somalis with tales of violence and hardship have sought refuge in Kenya since the start of the year and aid workers say continued arrivals, escaping drought, strict Islamist rule and fear of war, could overwhelm refugee camps.
The flow has risen dramatically in the last few weeks amid reports of further advances by the Islamists, who seized Mogadishu in June and then moved into the hinterland, and counter-attacks by the government and ousted warlords.
Influxes have coincided with Islamist territorial gains, notably the takeover of Kismayu last month.
"We've moved from 200 people every other day to 200 people per day to 500, to 800 and now we're over 1,000 per day," said Geoff Wordley, a senior UNHCR emergency officer in charge of the Dadaab camps.
Hajir says he is tired of violence in Somalia.
"For the last 15 years, all I have heard are bullets being fired," he said. "I just couldn't stand the sound anymore."
Leaning on a walking stick, Hajir says his main fear is war between the Islamists and Ethiopia, which witnesses say has sent troops to prop up the Western-backed government, the 14th try at central rule since 1991.
The Islamists have declared holy war against Ethiopia. Addis Ababa says the movement is led by terrorists.
Kamila Mohamed Hassan, 55, says she has been waiting for two days for a truck to Dadaab. As soon as she sees aid workers arrive in Liboi, along with hundreds of women, men and children, she rushes to the cars to see whether she can leave.
Her hopes are dashed -- no truck is coming for them today.
"I want to join the other refugees," the mother of three said. "I'm willing to go anywhere, but not back to Somalia."
Source: Reuters, Oct. 15, 2006