The five countries of the Horn of Africa are experiencing the worst declared drought in 60 years. What was a serious problem with the weather has become a humanitarian crisis in Somalia where over 60 percent of the country is controlled by militias who have been hampering the access of aid groups. 

Thousands of Syrian refugees spilled into Turkey as a violent government crackdown unfolded over the weekend.  The crackdown was carried out by elite Syrian troops in reaction to reports of dozens of military defections in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour.

Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, joining the 43 million refugees who are currently displaced around the world. Khaled Hosseini, bestselling author of “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” feels a particular kinship with these refugees. In 1980, when he was a teenager, he and his family were granted asylum in the U.S. when Afghanistan faced a different decade-long war with the Soviets.

It has been one of the most harrowing stories to come out of Africa in the recent decades: 27,000 young boys fleeing almost certain death or forced military service as child soldiers in a steady stream out of Sudan during it's 20-year second civil war, which started in 1983. In 2000, some 4,000 "Lost Boys" came to the United States in a resettlement program. Ten years later, many in America and around the world are reconnecting though a recently-discovered store of documents from aid workers in Africa. The discovery is helping them document their own lives as well as the lives of their friends. We listen to some tape on this story with help from Paul Adams at the BBC. 

It has been called a modern day exodus: Over 100,000 people have fled Libya so far in the wake of the protests and violent retaliation from Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s regime. The majority of the Libyan population lives in Tripoli, which is in the western part of the country. Tens of thousands have now fled to the country's nearest border, to Tunisia, in just the past few days. How will Tunisia — in upheval itself over recent revolution — deal with the influx?

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the U.S. are still unable to reach their relatives. Phone lines in Haiti are still down and the Internet connection has been unreliable.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday announced more than $100 million in aid to help with the refugee situation in Pakistan. Some two million people have been displaced by anti-Taliban fighting in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, according to the BBC. The government has encouraged refugees to return to their homes and lifted curfews in order to help them, but continuing artillery fire has kept the refugees pinned down. The Takeaway talks with the BBC’s Owen Bennett-Jones in Pakistan, who has interviewed some of the displaced people in the camps.

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Yesterday, the Sri Lankan government declared victory in the 26-year civil war against ethnic Tamil rebels. After such a protracted struggle, many Sri Lankans know nothing but fighting; healing the nation will take a long time. Will the thousands who've fled the country come back? Today The Takeaway looks at the Tamil diaspora here in the U.S. We are joined by Ahilan Kadirgamar, a spokesman with the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum, a diaspora network pushing for a political solution in Sri Lanka. He's also a fellow at the Asia Society.

Here's M.I.A., who is probably the most famous Tamil in the world, on the Tavis Smiley show discussing the civil war in Sri Lanka:

Tens of thousands of Pakistanis are fleeing clashes between Taliban militants and the army, adding a humanitarian crisis to the list of daunting challenges facing the nation. While the U.S. has praised the added military forces fighting Taliban militants in the Swat Valley and Buner province bordering Islamabad, the International Committee of the Red Cross said fighting had cut access to places where civilians were most in need. The Takeaway speaks with Ron Redmond, chief spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Mark Dummit, a BBC reporter in Islamabad, who are monitoring the situation.

The Pakistani government began a large air and ground assault yesterday, launching attacks against close to 7,000 Taliban militants in the Swat Valley. The fighting came just hours ahead of meetings between President Barack Obama and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Washington to explore ways to boost Islamabad's fight against terror. Now, close to 40,000 Pakistanis are fleeing the battles unfolding in Pakistan's Swat Valley and areas surrounding the Pakistani capital. The mass exodus may spark the biggest refugee crisis Pakistan has ever seen, particularly as reports come in saying the Taliban is blocking exits routes to try to keep civilians in place. Joining The Takeaway from Islamabad is Mark Dummet of the BBC who is covering the refugee situation. Also joining the conversation is Ron Redmond, the chief spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland.

For more, read Dexter Filkins' article, Pakistan Strife Fills a Hospital With Refugees, in today's New York Times.