Moyale: Up to 50,000 people have crossed from Ethiopia into Kenya, food remains the most urgent need

Up to 50,000 people have crossed the Ethiopian border to take refuge in northern Kenya since October 22, 2026, fleeing fighting in the Moyale area. The figure was provided on October 30, 2026, by the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kenya, Fatima Mohammed-Cole, who attributed it to local authorities and warned that the count remains "fluid" as registration continues.

Estimates vary. The UN mentioned 36,000 crossings on October 27, 2026, reports Africanews with the Associated Press; Al Jazeera speaks of at least 30,000 displaced people in need of aid. The UNHCR is mobilizing relief for nearly 12,000 people: a response figure, not a total of arrivals.

A land and water conflict between two Ethiopian regions

The clashes are taking place on the Ethiopian side of the border. They stem from a territorial dispute between the regional administrations of Oromia and Somali, according to Africanews and the AP, and were exacerbated by the murder of a 13-year-old girl in an area administered by the Somali region. Al Jazeera describes a conflict over disputed land and water points. None of the reports consulted name an armed group. Gunfire was still audible from Kenya on October 30, 2026.

Marsabit hosts, without the means to do so

On the Kenyan side, the arrivals are concentrated in the town of Moyale, Marsabit County. Many are being hosted by relatives or host families; others are sleeping in schools and churches turned into shelters, the UNHCR indicates. Women and children are numerous. "More and more people are fleeing their country and arriving in our town," Benedict Munywoki, deputy commissioner of the Moyale sub-county, told the AP.

This border cuts in two the same population, on both sides of a town that bears the same name in both countries. It is this neighborhood that is absorbing the shock. Marsabit officials have launched an appeal for help, warning that these arrivals risked overwhelming communities already hit by water and food shortages.

According to the UNHCR, food is the most urgent need, ahead of drinking water, shelter, sanitation, and medical care. The agency has deployed an emergency team to Moyale with the Kenyan government, the IOM, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the Kenyan Red Cross, and is looking for accommodation further from the border.

On the ground, the response is also being organized with the displaced: Seifu Negash, an Ethiopian refugee doctor, is providing voluntary care alongside the Kenyan Red Cross, reports Africanews. Neither Nairobi nor Addis Ababa had reacted publicly as of October 30, 2026.