Ifo and Ifo 2 refugee camps, Dadaab, Kenya

Ifo is one of the camps of the Dadaab complex in Garissa County, Kenya. UNHCR calls it the oldest camp in Dadaab, set up in 1991 (UNHCR Ifo camp profile, August 2015). Ifo 2, a separate camp next to it, opened in 2011. This page covers both camps; the Dadaab complex as a whole is on Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps.

When and why did Ifo open?

Refugees from southern Somalia first crossed into Kenya at the border town of Liboi (Van Lehman and Eno, The Somali Bantu, 2003). When Liboi grew past 40,000 people, UNHCR set up more camps near Dadaab: first Ifo, then Dagahaley, and last Hagadera (same source).

UN News, citing UNHCR, says the three original camps were set up between October 1991 and June 1992, for up to 90,000 people (UN News, 21 February 2012). UNHCR's camp profiles give 1991 for Ifo (UNHCR, August 2015).

By January 1994, an estimated 10,000 Somali Bantu refugees lived in the Dagahaley, Ifo, Liboi and Hagadera camps (Van Lehman and Eno, 2003). By 1996 Ifo was also home to several hundred Christian Ethiopians, and the same profile records a church built by Bantu refugees in Ifo (same source).

How many people have lived in Ifo?

Counts from UNHCR and from Human Rights Watch, which quoted UNHCR figures:

• 28 February 2009: 86,732 (Human Rights Watch, From Horror to Hopelessness, March 2009).
• August 2012: 108,422, the highest monthly figure in UNHCR's online series (UNHCR Operational Data Portal, Ifo).
• December 2012: 90,005 (same source).
• 28 February 2014: 87,703, in 22,448 households (UNHCR Ifo camp profile, 2014).
• 1 August 2015: 84,181, of whom 76,100 came from Somalia and 7,502 from Ethiopia (UNHCR, August 2015).
• July to August 2016: the portal's figure fell from 75,810 to 63,802 (UNHCR ODP, Ifo).
• April 2017: 60,856, the lowest figure in the series (same source).
• December 2020: 70,149; December 2023: 82,378; December 2024: 92,692; December 2025: 90,046 (same source).
• 31 October 2026: 95,398 people in 18,187 households (same source).

The 2014 profile said Ifo's population had grown by 35% since 2010, as people fled war and famine in Somalia (UNHCR, 2014).

Who lives in Ifo now?

On 31 October 2026, 90,116 of Ifo's residents came from Somalia (UNHCR ODP, Ifo). Others came from Ethiopia (4,362), South Sudan (552), DR Congo (195), Uganda (79), Burundi (52) and Sudan (28) (same source).

Children under 18 made up 48,467 people, or 50.8% of the camp, and 12,669 were under five (UNHCR ODP, Ifo, demographic breakdown).

What schools, health care and water does Ifo have?

UNHCR's 2014 and 2015 profiles describe these services (UNHCR, 2014; UNHCR, March 2015; UNHCR, August 2015):

• Schools: eight primary schools, two secondary schools, an adult literacy centre and a youth vocational centre.
• Enrolment: 37% at primary level (63% of pupils boys) and 23.4% at secondary level (76.6% boys).
• Vocational training: the Norwegian Refugee Council ran a Youth Education Pack centre open to refugee and host youth.
• Health: six primary health posts and one level-four hospital run by Islamic Relief, with surgery. IOM built a tuberculosis ward at the hospital.
• Births: 78% of deliveries were attended by skilled staff in the 2014 profile, and 62% in the 2015 profiles.
• Water: seven boreholes gave 21.2 litres per person per day in 2014 and 22.0 litres in 2015.

The profiles differ on latrines. The 2014 profile counts 21,704, about six people per latrine, while the 2015 profiles count 12,930, about seven (UNHCR, 2014; UNHCR, August 2015).

How is Ifo laid out and run?

Ifo covers 12.3 square km, and each household plot measures 12 by 15 metres (UNHCR, August 2015). The 2014 profile counts eight sections and the 2015 profiles nine (same source; UNHCR, 2014).

In 2015 refugees elected two camp chairpersons, 18 section leaders and 212 block leaders, men and women (UNHCR, August 2015). The profile also lists 27 registered youth groups (same source).

The profile says shelters in the flood-prone half of the camp had not been replaced since 1991 (UNHCR, August 2015). It adds that the Kenyan government did not allow agencies to build permanent shelters (same source).

What floods and other events has Ifo seen?

• November 2006: floods displaced more than 100,000 of Dadaab's 160,000 Somali refugees, AFP reported. Dagahaley and Ifo were the worst hit (AFP via Terra Daily, 21 November 2006).
• November 2006: UNHCR moved the most affected people from Ifo to Hagadera. About 2,000 refugees and 32 donkey carts covered the 20 km route in the first days (same source).
• 31 May 2008: Ifo and Hagadera were declared full, and new arrivals were registered only in Dagahaley (Human Rights Watch, 2009).
• October 2011: the Kenyan authorities suspended registration of new arrivals. Ifo had been the central registration point for all of Dadaab (UNHCR, 2014).
• 2012: drainage canals were dug to carry floodwater out of the camp. UNHCR says half the camp is flood-prone (same source).
• September 2012 and January 2013: arrests of people described as al-Shabaab suspects took place in Ifo, the profiles record (same source).
• April to June 2014: a window for registering new arrivals was opened (UNHCR, March 2015).

When did Ifo 2 open?

UNHCR received permission to extend Dadaab in December 2009, according to both Oxfam and MSF (Oxfam, 11 July 2011; MSF, 20 January 2011). Oxfam says the work was finished in late 2010, but the government did not let people move in (Oxfam, 2011).

The sources give different capacities:

• MSF, January 2011: an extension for 80,000 refugees, with a 45-bed hospital under construction (MSF, 2011).
• IRIN, July 2011: about 80,000 people, with schools, health facilities and mud-brick houses (IRIN via ecoi.net, 28 July 2011).
• Oxfam, July 2011: about 40,000 refugees (Oxfam, 2011).

Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced on 14 July 2011 that the camp would open (IRIN via ecoi.net, 2011). A UNOSAT satellite map records an "Ifo extension" approved by the Kenyan authorities that day (UNOSAT, 9 August 2011). From 25 July, UNHCR moved nearly 2,000 refugees to an extension area beside Ifo (IRIN via ecoi.net, 2011).

UNHCR's profiles say Ifo 2 opened in July 2011 to take pressure off Ifo and Dagahaley (UNHCR Ifo 2 profile, August 2015). It is split into Ifo 2 East and Ifo 2 West, with 18 sections over 10 square km (same source).

What was Ifo 2 like from 2011 to 2018?

UNHCR's 2014 and 2015 profiles give these details (UNHCR Ifo 2 profile, 2014; UNHCR, August 2015):

• Population: 54,189 in February 2014 and 51,436 in August 2015, of whom 49,961 came from Somalia.
• Shelter: 16,000 tents were issued from July to October 2011. In July 2013 the government stopped brick shelters as "permanent structures", and more than 4,500 timber and plastic shelters were built instead.
• Schools: ten primary schools and one secondary school. 28,410 children were in early-years and primary classes, but only 3% of secondary-age young people were enrolled.
• Health: a level-five hospital run by the Kenya Red Cross opened in June 2013, with a maternity hospital and three health posts.
• Water: seven boreholes, six of them solar-diesel hybrids, gave 24.6 litres per person per day.
• Leaders: on 26 August 2013 residents elected a chairman, a chairlady, 34 section leaders and 236 block leaders, half of them women.

The profiles record attacks on aid workers (UNHCR, 2014). In October 2011 two MSF staff were kidnapped in Ifo 2 and released in 2013. On 29 June 2012 an NRC staff member was killed and four international staff were kidnapped; Kenyan authorities rescued them inside Somalia three days later (same source).

How did Ifo 2 close and reopen?

Radio Ergo reported in April 2018 that UNHCR would close Ifo 2 by the end of April, citing reduced funding (Radio Ergo, 12 April 2018). It said about 18,000 families remained, and about 2,000 had moved to Ifo and Dagahaley (same source).

In May 2018 Radio Ergo reported that the camp's ten primary schools, its secondary school, seven health centres and hospital had closed (Radio Ergo, 9 May 2018). It put the families still there at almost 20,000 (same source). UNHCR handed the empty camp to the Kenyan government on 21 June 2019 (VOA, 21 June 2019).

In January 2023 MSF reported that UNHCR was seeking donor money to reopen Ifo 2 for up to 80,000 refugees (MSF Kenya, 24 January 2023). UNHCR's portal shows 6,155 people in Ifo 2 in March 2023 and 70,965 in January 2024 (UNHCR ODP, Ifo 2).

Who lives in Ifo 2 now?

On 31 October 2026, Ifo 2 held 88,963 people in 13,884 households (UNHCR ODP, Ifo 2). Of these, 84,881 came from Somalia, 2,135 from South Sudan and 1,715 from Ethiopia (same source).

Of the four Dadaab camps on the portal, Ifo 2 has the highest share of children. Children under 18 made up 62,941 people, or 70.7%, and 20,579 were under five (UNHCR ODP, Ifo 2, demographic breakdown).

What has been written about Ifo?

• UNHCR camp profiles (2014 and 2015) and the Operational Data Portal give the camp-level figures used on this page (UNHCR ODP, Ifo).
• Daniel Van Lehman and Omar Eno, The Somali Bantu (2003), describes the founding order of the camps and Bantu life in Ifo (ERIC).
• Human Rights Watch, From Horror to Hopelessness (2009), records arrivals, registration and conditions in Ifo in 2008 (HRW).

Related pages

• Dadaab and Kenya's Somali refugee camps
• Hagadera camp
• Dagahaley camp
• Somali refugee camps
• Somali Bantu resettlement
• Kenya
• The famine of 2010 to 2012
• Somali refugees by the numbers

Sources

1. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Ifo Ref. Camp, monthly population 2012 to 2026 and demographics, 31 October 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/182. Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Ifo 2 Ref. Camp, 31 October 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken/183. Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Ifo Camp Profile, Dadaab, Kenya, 1 August 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32113. Checked 12 November 2026.
4. UNHCR. Ifo Camp Profile, Dadaab Refugee Camps, 1 March 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32024. Checked 12 November 2026.
5. UNHCR. Camp profile Ifo, 28 February 2014. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31864. Checked 12 November 2026.
6. UNHCR. Ifo 2 Camp Profile, Dadaab, Kenya, 1 August 2015. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/32112. Checked 12 November 2026.
7. UNHCR. Camp profile Ifo 2, 28 February 2014. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/31863. Checked 12 November 2026.
8. UNITAR/UNOSAT. Emergency assessment of Ifo refugee camp, 9 August 2011. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/30899. Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Van Lehman, D. and Eno, O. The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture. Center for Applied Linguistics, 2003. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482784.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
10. UN News. UN-run camps for Somalia refugees in Kenya enter 20th year of existence, 21 February 2012. https://news.un.org/en/node/404012. Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Human Rights Watch. From Horror to Hopelessness: Kenya's Forgotten Somali Refugee Crisis, March 2009. https://www.hrw.org/reports/kenya0309web.pdf. Checked 12 November 2026.
12. AFP, via Terra Daily. Somali refugees trudge to higher ground in flood-hit Kenya, 21 November 2006. https://terradaily.com/somali-refugees-trudge-to-higher-ground-in-flood-hit-kenya-999/. Checked 12 November 2026.
13. Oxfam. New camp stands idle and closed as Somali refugees pour into Kenya, 11 July 2011. https://www.oxfam.org/en/node/9506. Checked 12 November 2026.
14. MSF. Ifo II refugee camp in Kenya lies empty while tens of thousands of Somali refugees live in unacceptable conditions, 20 January 2011. https://www.msf.org/ifo-ii-refugee-camp-kenya-lies-empty-while-tens-thousands-somali-refugees-live-unacceptable. Checked 12 November 2026.
15. IRIN, via ecoi.net. Fourth Dadaab camp yet to open despite government pledge, 28 July 2011. https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/199315. Checked 12 November 2026.
16. Radio Ergo. Somali famine refugees in Dadaab suffer cold nights awaiting imminent closure of their camp, 12 April 2018. https://radioergo.org/en/2018/04/somali-famine-refugees-in-dadaab-suffer-cold-nights-awaiting-imminent-closure-of-their-camp/. Checked 12 November 2026.
17. Radio Ergo. Dadaab refugees want to stay in Kenya to educate their children, 9 May 2018. https://radioergo.org/en/2018/05/dadaab-refugees-want-to-stay-in-kenya-to-educate-their-children/. Checked 12 November 2026.
18. Voice of America. Kenya retakes control of two emptied refugee camps, 21 June 2019. https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_kenya-retakes-control-two-emptied-refugee-camps/6170429.html. Checked 12 November 2026.
19. MSF Kenya. Record admissions at MSF hospital in Dagahaley as humanitarian situation worsens, 24 January 2023. https://msf.or.ke/news-and-resources/latest-news/record-admissions-msf-hospital-dagahaley-humanitarian-situation. Checked 12 November 2026.