Every year, tens of thousands of people from Horn of Africa countries in the continent's north-east undertake dangerous journeys to faraway South Africa to escape conflict, poverty and hunger in their homelands. In a special series, AlertNet tells the stories of Somali refugees crossing into Kenya, a young Somali woman living illegally in Kenya and a teenage boy who has travelled 4,500km (2,800miles) from Somalia to South Africa.
NAIROBI (AlertNet) - Copious mud, mounds of garbage and a piercing stench welcome you to the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh.
The area of two square miles is home to some 200,000 people.
But for the mainly Somali population here, the crowded neighbourhood is a land of opportunity.
"Everything is possible in Eastleigh," said Fatuma, a 20-year-old illegal immigrant from Somalia.
Daily fighting between government forces and hardline Islamist rebels in Mogadishu had forced the energetic Somali to
abandon her elderly parents and her small restaurant business in the Somali capital and flee to neighbouring Kenya.
At least 17,000 Somalis and Ethiopians leave their Horn of Africa countries for South Africa every year, most of them
transiting through Kenya, the United Nations estimates.
Violence in Muslim Somalia has killed some 21,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and uprooted a further 1.5 million
people.
Ethiopia's Ogaden region, populated mainly by Muslim ethnic Somalis, is also mired in a long-running insurgency against the
Ethiopian government for more autonomy.
Many of the migrants spend some time in Eastleigh, a major hub for human smugglers.
"In Eastleigh, there are safe houses for smuggled Somalis, as well as clandestine offices where forgeries and travel
documents are made," the U.N.'s International Organisation for Migration wrote in its 2009 report.
SOMALI UNITY
The closely-knit Somali community in the suburb is another attraction for immigrants, many of whom, like Fatuma, do not
know anyone in Kenya when they arrive.
"When refugees come to Eastleigh, they go straight to mosques and introduce themselves to imams," said Laban Osoro, a
lawyer with Kituo Cha Sheria, an organisation with offices in Eastleigh that provides free legal advice.
"After every Friday prayers, the imam introduces new arrivals, their clans and ancestry. Usually they find a family
that take them in - a sign of unity by culture and nationality,"
he added.
That is what happened to Fatuma: she's found a job as a maid in a Somali family. She earns $40 a month and wants to save
enough money to move to South Africa or the United States.
Fatuma is equally keen to stay out of trouble with the police - a common worry among illegal immigrants in Eastleigh.
Some Somalis now also fear persecution after Kenyan security forces raided Eastleigh last month and arrested hundreds of
Somalis following violence at a protest blamed on Somali extremists. Some Somalis worry they will all be tarred with the
same brush.
But at any rate, most immigrants in Eastleigh hope their stay in Kenya will be short.
Mohamed Kassa from Ethiopia, who sells khat leaves which have a mild narcotic effect when chewed, says he wants to join
his family in Canada.
"I need about $15,000 to leave this place. As soon as I get it, I will go."
(Editing by Olesya Dmitracova)
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