Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya, 20 years on – in pictures

An aerial view of the Dadaab refugee complex. The Ifo, Dagahaley and Hagadera camps in Dadaab, north-eastern Kenya, form the largest refugee complex in the world Photograph: UNEP

Ifo camp, seen from above in May 1992 Photograph: T Bolstad/UNHCR

Ifo camp in May 1992
Photograph: P Moumtzis/UNHCR

A woman from Somalia at Ifo camp. May 1992 Photograph: T. Bølstad/UNHCR

Recently arrived refugees from Liboi, along the Kenya-Somalia border, begin building their new houses, June 1994
Photograph: B Press/UNHCR

Women work on an agricultural project in Ifo camp, watering young trees, June 1994
Photograph: B Press/UNHCR

By March 1996, Ifo camp is a small-city, home to refugees mainly from Somalia but also from Sudan and Ethiopia
Photograph: I Galassi/UNHCR

Women collect firewood in Hagadera camp, July 1998
Photograph: E Eyster/UNHCR

Somali refugees gather at a water point in Hagadera camp, July 1999
Photograph: B Press/UNHCR

Somali refugees work on a seedling nursery run by GTZ, the German agency for international co-operation, July 1999
Photograph: B Press/UNHCR

A women's group makes baskets to sell in Hagadera camp, July 1999
Photograph: B Press/UNHCR

Children gather in Hagadera camp, October 2006
Photograph: Siegfried Modola/IRIN

In 2006, torrential rain and floods displaced around 13,000 refugees from the Dadaab camps
Photograph: AFP

UN relief workers retrieve supplies dropped from a US military plane to the Dadaab refugee complex after the floods, December 2006 Photograph: Pool/Reuters

Somali refugees drive a herd of goats in Ifo camp, January 2007 Photograph: Radu Sigheti/Reuters

Newly arrived Somali refugees wait to be registered by the UNHCR, August 2008 Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Somali children attend an outdoor class in Dagahaley camp, June 2009 Photograph: FINBARR O'REILLY/Reuters

A man helps to distribute flour at a UN food distribution centre in Dadaab, August 2009 Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Sharke Mohamed, 18, has his leg treated at a Médecins Sans Frontières medical station in Dadaab, August 2009 Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A security officer stands before hundreds of people waiting to move to a less-crowded camp in Dadaab, August 2009. The Dadaab camps hold more than three times as many people as they were designed to support Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Europe

A woman displays her UN food assistance card in Dadaab, August 2009 Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A new group of refugees arrives from the Kenya-Somalia border, February 2011 Photograph: Hamza Mohamed

Residents of the Dadaab camps collect clothes to donate to newly arrived refugees, most of whom have left all their possessions behind in Somalia, February 2011 Photograph: Hamza Mohamed