• The United Nations High Commission for Refugees said any decisions on the camps should allow for suitable and sustainable solutions to be found.
• The camps host more than 500,000 refugees, mostly from Somalia
The UN refugee agency has asked the Kenyan government to consider how its closure of Kakuma and Daadab camps will affect the protection of occupants.
In a statement, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees said any decisions on the camps should allow for suitable and sustainable solutions to be found.
The camps host more than 500,000 refugees, mostly from Somalia. Others are nationals of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
On Wednesday, Interior CS Fred Matiang'i gave UNHCR a 14-day ultimatum to prepare a definitive plan for the closure of the camps.
It was the third time the government was issuing a directive for the closure of the camps. Matiang'i told UNHCR officials who met him at his office that there would be no further negotiations.
UNHCR has pledged to keep engaging in a dialogue for the protection of refugees.
“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,” their statement said.
Nairobi has cited national security threats, including past attacks linked to accomplices of the al Shabaab militant group within the camps.
The refugee agency said Kenya had “generously host[ed] refugees and asylum-seekers for several decades” and it recognised the impact that it has had. It 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 said.
During the Wednesday meeting with UNCHR, the team was told Kenya and Somalia have no diplomatic relationship to continue hosting the refugees.
On Thursday, Matiang’i met with 25 development partners missions in Nairobi including the UN, World Bank and IMF to discuss the closure of the camps.
The government has scheduled another meeting with diplomats from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and South Sudan on Friday to discuss repatriation of their nationals from the camps.
The refugee row comes as Kenya and Somalia are engaged in a maritime border row at the International Court of Justice.
Nairobi has accused ICJ of bias and refused to participate in the proceedings.
A similar attempt to close the camps was made in 2019 following DusitD2 complex terror attack in Nairobi in which 21 people were killed.
Police said one of the five men who attacked DUsitD2 came to Kenya through Dagahaley refugee camp in the Dadaab complex.
The suspect allegedly posed as a refugee before he was facilitated and brought to Nairobi to execute the attack.
In 2016, the government ordered the closure of Dadaab refugee camp.
Former Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery cited security, environmental degradation and economic concerns for the decision to close the camp.
In February 2017, Justice John Mativo stopped the plans. Mativo said Nkaissery and PS Karanja Kibicho had acted beyond their powers.
The court also declared the repatriation of refugees unconstitutional, describing it as discriminative.
According to the police, the refugee camps are still used as logistical, transit, and facilitation centres for al Shabaab.
Security agencies say the perpetrators of the Westgate Mall and Garissa University attacks were facilitated from Dadaab.
Dadaab comprises four camps: Dagahaley, Ifo, Ifo 2 and Hagadera.
By the end of 2018, the estimated population of Somali refugees and asylum seekers in the camp was 235,269.
A huge segment of this population arrived in the camps during the Somali civil war in the early 1990s. Another large influx of refugees occurred around 2011. Among them were people who were fleeing drought and famine in Somalia.
Kenya and Somalia signed a tripartite agreement with the UNHCR to provide a framework for the voluntary return of Somali refugees.
About 80,144 refugees have been repatriated to Somalia on a voluntary basis since December 2014. Voluntary returns to Somalia declined in 2018.
(edited by o. owino)