New York, United States - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday expressed concern over the 'unprecedented' levels of malnutrition among the more than 50 per cent of Somali children arriving in Ethiopia and between 30 to 40 per cent of those arriving in Kenya. 'Knowing that children are dying along their journey to safety breaks our hearts,” UNCHR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres said in a statement. Guterres, who is scheduled to visit the border areas as well as refugee camps later this week, noted that, 'this is turning one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises into a human tragedy of unimaginable proportions.'

He disclosed that, 'more than 135,000 Somalis have fled the Horn of Africa nation so far this year owing to ongoing violence and devastating drought.'

The UNHCR also said that in June alone, 54,000 people fled across the two borders, three times the number of people who fled in May.

It also estimated that a quarter of Somalia’s population of 7.5 million was now either internally displaced or living outside the country as refugees.

'Ongoing conflict inside the country makes it difficult, if not impossible, for aid agencies to reach these people with assistance.

'Many families tell us they exhausted virtually all of their resources and are facing starvation, they walk for days, several weeks at times, through the desert, arriving in an appalling
state of health,” the agency stated.

It also said: 'Increasingly, we are hearing reports of children below the age of five dying of hunger and exhaustion during the journey.

'Tragically, many children are in such weak conditions when they finally arrive that they die within 24 hours despite the emergency care and therapeutic feeding they immediately
receive,' it added.

Meanwhile, the UNHCR said it would fly in 100 tonnes of relief items on Tuesday, while a land convoy with some 20 trucks loaded with aid is due to reach the Ethiopian capital,
Addis Ababa, on Thursday.

The agency is also about to issue an appeal covering food, shelter, health services and other life-saving aid supplies, stressing that, “the needs are urgent and massive”.

It, however, called on governments, individual donors and the private sector to urgently support its life-saving operations in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Pana 06/07/2011