Water Crisis Among Yemeni Refugees in Djibouti

This is how Nasser begins his day, a search for water, a journey he already knows will not be easy. In Obock, where temperatures exceed forty degrees Celsius, demand for water continues to rise. By the time he reaches the distribution point, dozens of people are already there. Those who come too late are left with very little.

They struggle to draw out what's left in the tank, but the hardship does not end there. With containers in short supply, finding something to store the water in is yet another challenge. We don't have empty jerrycans to collect water, so we borrow our

neighbors' once they've emptied theirs. Then we go and fetch enough water to last us the day. At night, no water is available, and if we run out, we have to wait until the next day. Tankers deliver supplies, but the place gets crowded. Everyone here is displaced, and we all have to wait for water.

We follow one refugee on his daily search for water, a journey that reflects the reality faced by many others. Trucks transport thousands of liters each day from wells to storage tanks distributed throughout the camp. Together, the tanks have a total capacity of around forty-five cubic meters.

But the arrival of more than three thousand six hundred Yemeni refugees has placed the water supply infrastructure under severe strain, turning access to water into a burden that even children must help shoulder. We have four tankers of different sizes.

The Obock authorities uses them to supply the camp with water, making more than three trips a day. But the supplies run out quickly because the numbers of refugees has increased significantly. We are doing everything we can to reduce the shortage and meet their needs. Drinking water is a priority. In the extreme heat, charities are focused

on preventing dehydration. As you know, Obock is an extremely hot area, and humidity levels are also high. The Yemeni refugees arrived here at the end of the summer,

but the weather remains very hot, so it was essential to provide them with cold drinking water. This project consists of three central water cooling units, each with a capacity of two thousand liters.

With temperatures soaring and infrastructure buckling under the pressure of a growing refugee population, providing enough water remains a daily test of this small town's ability to meet mounting needs despite limited resources.

Hassan Razzaq, Al Jazeera, Obock, Djibouti