This would be so hard to handle... More than half a million refugees have been living in Dadaab's refugee camps, for years. When I visited for reported, I interviewed Somali refugees who spent 20 years of their life in the camp...
The situation is Somalia is - appallingly - still very dangerous, fragile, inhospitable. Same for South Sudan and the regions of DR Congo and Burundi some of the other refugees come from.
Let's hope Kenya manage to handle the situation properly with the UNHCR.
Here is the UN's appeal, and below, one of my articles from Dadaab, in 2011. Still valid today, unfortunately.
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UNHCR appeals to Kenya over decision to end refugee hosting
Press Releases, 9 May 2016
On Friday of last week (May 6th), the Government of Kenya announced that it intended to end the hosting of refugees, citing economic, security and environmental burdens. A statement issued by the Ministry of Interior, said the Government had disbanded its Department of Refugee Affairs and was working on a mechanism for the closure of Kenya's refugee camps – a move that could affect as many as 600,000 lives.
It is with profound concern that UNHCR takes note of this announcement. For almost a quarter of a century Kenya has played a vital role in East Africa and the Horn of Africa in providing asylum to people forced to flee persecution and war. The safety of hundreds of thousands of Somalis, South Sudanese and others has hinged on Kenya's generosity and its willingness to be a leading beacon in the region for international protection. Tragically, the situations in Somalia and South Sudan that cause people to flee are still unresolved today.
UNHCR has been, and will continue to be, in touch with the Kenyan Government to fully understand the implications of its statement. We recognize that Kenya has played an extraordinary role over many years as one of the world's frontline major refugee hosting nations, and that inevitably this has had many consequences for the country and its population. It is for these reasons, that UNHCR has been a prominent advocate for robust international support for Kenya, including support for host communities and a careful listening to their concerns.
In today's global context of some 60 million people forcibly displaced, it is more important than ever that international asylum obligations prevail and are properly supported. In light of this, and because of the potentially devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of people that premature ending of refugee hosting would have, UNHCR is calling on the Government of Kenya to reconsider its decision and to avoid taking any action that might be at odds with its international obligations towards people needing sanctuary from danger and persecution.
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Kenya's Refugee Camps
The overpopulation of Kenyan refugee camps threatens relations between Kenya and Somalia.
Article |
Dadaab and Nairobi, Kenya
Dadaab and Nairobi, Kenya
With around 300,000 refugees using facilities intended for 90,000 people, Dadaab City’s three refugee camps, in Northern Kenya, are more than overpopulated. Dadaab is considered to be the biggest refugee camp structure in the world. Up to 10,000 people have been appearing at its gates each month since January, fleeing the misery of war-torn Somalia.
Daghahaley, Ifo and Hagadera have been progressively growing in the city of Dadaab since 1991, and the outbreak of war in Somalia. Situated at the border between the two countries, the city has become the only safe haven for thousands of Somalis. While a small number of refugees are from Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Sudan, most of the refugees arriving in Dadaab come from neighbouring conflict-torn Somalia.
Refugees who have recently arrived therefore often have to live in tents in the outskirts of the camps. And while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs like Medecins Sans Frontiere (MSF) and Oxfam have pushed for the addition of a fourth camp, Ifo II, the Kenyan government has been refusing since last November.
Muslima Hassan has four children. She fled Mogadishu to escape the war and drought. But here in Dadaab she didn’t even find a proper shelter. “I fled with my husband and my baby because of the war”, she said, holding the crying infant in her arms. “And my children joined us later on in January. But when we arrived we were disappointed by the terrible living conditions. We don’t have enough water, enough food. Nobody can help us here”. Thousands of other women are in the same situation in the outskirts of the camps.
For the programmes’ director of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Richard Floyer Acland, it’s clear the overcrowding in the camps has become unbearable. “One of the problems is congestion. We’re looking at how we can decongest the camps. We’re asking the Kenyan government for more sites”, Acland explained during a visit to the camps. “I think we’re getting to the stage where the number of refugees in this part of Kenya has really reached a level which is going to be difficult to sustain”, he added.
To ease the pressure, the UNHCR negotiated with the local communities, elected leaders and the provincial administration to open the fourth camp. The UNHCR acquired more land in December 2009 and the construction of Ifo II camp began early 2010. It was designed to host 80,000 refugees and was supposed to open in November 2010. It now has clinics, schools, water access and sanitation facilities.
But the new camp remains empty.
According to the Kenya Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA), the Kenyan government did not give its official approval, due to the concerns of local communities about the construction. The Kenya Department of Refugee Affairs commissioner Omar Dhadho has maintained since February that a compromise will be found. And Haron Komen, Dadaab refugee camps’ director for the DRA explained to me during my visit: “structures, houses, there are concerns in the host communities of Dadaab about the respect for their environment. The government has to discuss and consult the local leaders before making any decision”. Yet still no decision has been made regarding Ifo II.
The spokesperson for MSF, Maimouna Jallow, wonders: “Why is Ifo II closed when it was meant to open last year and has a capacity to host 80,000 refugees? If they say stalled negotiations, who are they between and why? Is there a solution in sight? Is the Kenyan government simply fed up of receiving refugees?”
The whole problem of congestion and the Kenyan government’s inaction demonstrates, on the one hand, that Kenya is no longer ready to take responsibility for those who manage to cross the border, which has been happening for 20 years now. On the other hand, we should not forget that the Somali government, despite its protests, has again proved it cannot bring any stability to the country.
Kenya is one of the more stable and developed nations in the East and Horn of Africa and has to bear the burden of Somalia's recent misery. The crisis is problematic as it is changing relations between the least stable and most stable countries in East Africa.
Nowadays, most NGOs and UN agencies helping Somalia are based in Nairobi and some Kenyans often complain that a lot of the aid attention based in Kenya does not concern Kenya at all. While Somalia and Kenya both currently suffer from a drought crisis, for instance, the international aid agencies like the World Food Programme (WFP) and Oxfam are much more worried about Somalia's situation. A large part of the Somali people who left their country for Kenya in 2011 were running away from the drought, not the war.
“I met Somali women and children who have fled conflict and arrived traumatised and suffering from malnutrition,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran, in April, trying to raise concern.
“After more than 20 years of war, Somali refugees have become a true global population. The majority are here in Kenya and in Djibouti, Yemen and Ethiopia but Somalis have sought refuge in countries on all five continents”, added the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. “As the war continues unabated, I appeal to all countries in the world to keep their borders open and to allow them to live in dignity”.
Around 300,000 Somali refugees live in Dadaab. But thousands of Somalis also live in Nairobi, and thousands of Kenyans have Somali origins. Nowadays these Somali Kenyans, living also in the Dadaab region, are increasingly responsible for the Kenyan government’s decision not to let the new Ifo II camp open. Unfortunately, if the Kenyan and Somali governments don’t manage to improve their relations, hundreds of thousands of people will continue to be put at further risk every day.
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