CNN's Freedom Project special "Death in the Desert" airs onSaturday, November 5 at 2100 HK / 1700 Abu Dhabi / 2100 CET / 2030PM ET; Sunday, November 6 at 1800 HK / 2100 Abu Dhabi / 1800 CET; Tuesday, November 8 at 2130 Abu Dhabi / 1830 CET.
El Arish, Egypt (CNN) -- "I wanted to build a good future for my family, but I failed," a weak Issam Abdallah Mohammed said in a videotaped statement.
The refugee from the Darfur region of Sudan was trying to illegally cross the border from Egypt to Israel when he was discovered and shot by Egyptian border guards.
Less than an hour after taping the statement, Issam was dead, succumbing to the wounds inflicted by the gunshots.
Every year, thousands of refugees, mostly from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan, attempt the dangerous journey from their war-torn countries to Israel in search of economic prosperity and stability.
Very few make it, and the results of the failed migration can be seen in the morgue of the central hospital in the Egyptian port town of El Arish.
When a CNN crew visited there recently, all the refrigeration units were broken, leaving a biting stench of decaying corpses in the air, which staff members attempted in vain to cover up with chlorine-based cleaner and incense.
On any given day, the morgue will be packed with the bodies of African refugees who died trying to make it to Israel.
Hamdy Al-Azazy spends a lot of time here as head of the New Generation Foundation for Human Rights, which tries to help African refugees in Egypt.
Every week, Al-Azazy combs the desert, searching for corpses, ensuring that they get a dignified burial.
He has spent the past seven years helping the refugees. Many are enslaved and tortured and the women raped by the Bedouin tribes of the Sinai if they are unable to come up with large sums of money the Bedouin try to extort from them and their families, to smuggle the refugees across the border into Israel. As a result, many remain imprisoned in camps on the Sinai Peninsula.
Responding to fears that foreign investors and tourists could be scared away, Kenyan forces last month entered Somalia, saying the kidnappings threatened security and constituted an attack on Kenyan sovereignty. Kenyan forces say they are ultimately seeking to take the Somali port city of Kismayo, described by the U.N. as a key stronghold and source of cash for Al-Shabaab.
Fears grow over Somali pirates' 'new tactics' after kidnaps, killing
What has been the response?
The incursion has raised fears of reprisals with Al-Shabaab saying it considers it an affront to Somalia's sovereignty. Last month (October) the U.S. Embassy in Kenya said it had credible information of an imminent terror attack on foreigners. The following day, twin explosions in Nairobi killed at least one person.
Many worry the action will make Kenya less safe, not more so. Security analyst Rashid Abdi, from International Crisis Group, told CNN: "There is a risk that while the argument for going in is to stop terrorism, the contrary could now be the case. Al-Shabaab will now have the pretext to strike Kenya."
How likely is Kenya's operation to succeed?
Any foreign intervention in Somalia is a big risk, say experts who point to recent history as proof, in particular America's ill-fated "Black Hawk Down" mission in 1993 when U.S. forces tried to capture a local warlord - resulting in many deaths on both sides, Ethiopia's U.S.-backed invasion that contributed to the rise of Al-Shabaab, and the African Union's long and bloody campaign to control the Somali capital Mogadishu.
"If there is anything we have learnt in the last couple of decades it is that foreign intervention, especially military intervention, doesn't work in Somalia," said Abdi.
Kenya's largely conventional army is being hampered by heavy rains and Al-Shabaab's ability to melt into the background. However officials say their operation should be over within months. "We don't want to go off and get stuck in Somalia," Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said. "When the United States, Ethiopia and others went there, they were trying to support an existing government. Our main objective is just to go in, dismantle the Al-Shabaab and get out."
What is the background to the unrest?
Somalia has known only conflict since the 1991 fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, who had seized power in 1969, nine years after independence from Britain and Italy. Meanwhile, as the EU tightened fishing controls in Europe, fleets from Europe and Asia -- many operating illegally -- moved into East African waters to fish. According to many reports, in the absence of any Somali navy patrols, those fleets plundered fish stocks, decimating the livelihoods of many Somali fishermen.
Fertile territory for Al Shabaab in chaos of Somalia
Many of these destitute former fisherman "took matters into their own hands," according to the African Development Bank, and turned to hijacking ships to make up for lost income. The new "industry" was quickly co-opted by the Somali warlords and is now an organized, hierarchical gang-like operation.
According to academic William Jelani Cobb, "Somalia is like Afghanistan in that we had a great deal of interest in the place during the Cold War and more or less forgot about it afterward."
In an article written for CNN in 2009 in response to the kidnapping of an American ship captain, Cobb wrote: "Part of combating terrorism means addressing the conditions in which it flourishes. Extortion and kidnapping on the high seas is certainly wrong, but by ignoring ... the threats to the regional food supply, we effectively created a niche for these pirates."
How will the unrest affect the region?
With famine causing misery for millions in the Horn of Africa, the conflict between Al-Shabaab and Kenyan forces is likely to hinder humanitarian efforts. Even before the incursion, aid workers found it difficult to provide relief, according to Roger Middleton, consultant researcher on Chatham House's Africa Program.
"If you've got a big war going on, it's difficult to distribute relief. Bombings only increase the risk," Middleton said, adding that discussions about access between aid workers and Al-Shabaab were unlikely to be eased by the conflict.
How is the international community reacting?
The Kenyan government says the decision to attack was its alone. Key western allies such as the U.S. and the UK have been quick to state publicly they are not assisting in this action, though the French say they will help. In the region, Rwanda and South Africa have issued statements backing Kenya.
"The international community is being quietly supportive," Middleton said, "but only because they have no idea what else to do.
"I'm sure the U.S. and others have provided intelligence assistance, but there have been no overwhelming offers of support. Most governments believe sending troops into Somalia is not a good idea, but there is no plan B, apart from the status quo.
"Their reasoning is that Kenya forces could be stuck in Somalia for ages, or there could be an insurgent campaign in Kenya itself. It could go horribly wrong -- who knows?"
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