Kenya non-committal over closure of Daadab Refugee Camp

The Government of Kenya remains non-committal over whether it will close the Daadab Refugee Camp as planned after President Uhuru Kenyatta held a crisis meeting with members of the United Nations Security Council at State House, Nairobi.

The President and the diplomats from the 15–member Security Council held lengthy discussions on the situation in Somalia and the work of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) in Somalia, whose troop contributing countries are Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone.

Kenya’s decision to close the Dadaab refugee camp was discussed at length.

The UN Security Council members were led by their current President who is also the Egyptian Envoy to the UN, Ambassador Alexis Lamek.

About two weeks ago, the government declared that it would no longer be hosting refugees in the interest of national security.

Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said the move is part of measures the government is putting in place to restore security in the country due to the challenge posed by the Al Shabaab fighters.

Last week, the government restated its position that it will repatriate the more than 600,000 refugees living in the country’s camps by November this year.

Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery said the government has formed a task force to oversee the repatriation process, with the timetable to be released by the 31st of this month when it files its report.

The Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government set up a 14–member taskforce – the National Taskforce on Repatriation of Refugees – whose role is to develop modalities, timelines and costs for the repatriation of refugees in Kenya, develop refugee management and control strategies during the period of repatriation as well as develop a verification criterion for refugees that will feed into a comprehensive database.

Nkaissery said Dadaab and Kakuma Refugee Camps have become centers of poaching, human trafficking, illegal arms and where terror attacks are plotted, among other ills hence the decision.

Pressure has been mounting on Kenya to rescind its decision to close the Daadab and Kakuma refugee camps.

The United Nations refugee agency has previously  called on Kenya to reconsider its plans to close the country’s two main refugee camps, saying the move would have “devastating consequences” for hundreds of thousands of people.

UNHCR said in a statement that it viewed the plans by Kenya’s government with “profound concern.”

It urged the government to “avoid taking any action that might be at odds with its international obligations” and said the safety of hundreds of thousands of refugees hinges on Kenya’s generosity.

Kenya hosts about 600,000 refugees in all. About three-fourths are from Somalia, with most of the others coming from South Sudan.