• Kenya is citing national security threats posed by some of the refugees, including past terror attacks that have been linked to accomplices of the Somali-based Al-Shabaab militant group.
•The UN agency is now calling for consideration of those who live in the camps for the need of protection and pledge to keep engaging in a dialogue.
Image: MINISTRY OF INTERIOR
Interior CS Fred Matiang’i held a meeting on Thursday with 25 development partners mission in Nairobi on refugee rights consideration.
This is even as the government of Kenya plans to close Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps.
On Wednesday, UNHCR and UN Refugee Agency, urged Kenya to ensure that any decisions on the camps will pave way for sustainable solutions.
Matiangi met UN, World Bank, and IMF representatives respectively. Foreign CS Raychell Omamo also attended the meeting which was held virtually.
The CS and his team delivered their message on plans to close the camps citing insecurity.
He says Kenya's national security is threatened by some of the refugees, including terror attacks that have been linked to accomplices of al-Shabaab within the camps.
Kenya gave the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees a 14-day ultimatum to come up with a roadmap on the definite closure.
The complex situation has also left the government torn between its domestic duties and international obligations, some of which are binding and can attract consequences.
However, the UN agency is now calling for consideration of those who live in the camps for the need of protection and pledge to keep engaging in a dialogue.
“UNHCR is concerned about the impact this decision would have on the protection of refugees in Kenya, including in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue our dialogue with the Kenyan authorities on this issue,” a statement from the agency said in part.
While expressing its gratitude to Kenyans for ‘generously hosting refugees and asylum-seekers for several decades’ saying it recognizes the impact this has had, the refugee agency promised to support Kenya in its efforts of hosting the refugees.
“UNHCR stands ready to support the Government of Kenya in continuing and further strengthening the work that is ongoing to find solutions that are orderly, sustainable, and respect refugee rights,” the statement added.
The Government team has scheduled another meeting with diplomats from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and South Sudan on March 25 to regularise the repatriation of their nationals from the camps.
Apart from the terror issue, the government team said Kenya’s efforts to have the have war-torn areas where al Shabaab operates in Somalia to be labeled as terrorist organizations have been hindered continuously.
It comes at a time when there is an ongoing maritime case with Somalia in which Kenya has accused the International Court of Justice of failure to honour its request to have the new team of lawyers prepares sufficiently for the case.
The number of refugees from Somalia is over 274,000 which is the largest compared to those from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda amongst other neighbouring countries.
It will be the third time Kenya is reviving the push to close down the refugee camps.
A similar attempt was made in 2019 following the DusitD2 complex terror attack in Nairobi in which 21 people were killed. This is after it emerged one of the five men who attacked DusitD2 came to Kenya through Dagahaley Refugee Camp in the larger Dadaab.
Police investigations showed the unidentified suspect posed as a refugee before he was facilitated and brought to Nairobi to execute the attack.