Thousands of people have fled communal violence in Moyale, southern Ethiopia, and crossed into Kenya, with local Kenyan officials estimating that around 50,000 people have arrived since Thursday, October 22, 2026, according to the United Nations. New arrivals are still being reported, and the number remains provisional as registration continues. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday that the violence has claimed lives and disrupted transport and cross-border trade, limiting people’s access to essential goods and services. The violence broke out on the Ethiopian side on October 18, displacing thousands from the Oromia and Somali regions, according to OCHA.
Women and children make up a large share
Women and children make up a large share of those fleeing, according to OCHA and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Some are staying with relatives or local host communities, while others have taken shelter in temporary locations such as schools and churches. Food, safe drinking water, emergency shelter, sanitation and health services are the most urgent needs, OCHA said. UNHCR has deployed an emergency team to Moyale, working with the Kenyan government through the Department of Refugee Services and county authorities, alongside the International Organization for Migration, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the Kenya Red Cross Society and other humanitarian partners, according to UNHCR’s update.
Operations suspended as insecurity persists
Persistent insecurity has forced several partner organisations to suspend their operations, OCHA said. The UN and its partners are preparing a joint assessment mission to the affected areas, which will deploy as soon as the security situation allows. OCHA stressed the importance of protecting civilians and ensuring safe, sustained and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid to reach those in need. Moyale is a divided border town — one side in Ethiopia, the other in Kenya — and violence on one side has repeatedly spilled across the frontier in past years. The current displacement, estimated at up to 50,000 people, is among the larger cross-border movements the town has seen, and the strain on host communities, schools and clinics in Moyale, Kenya, is growing as arrivals continue.
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