How Help Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya

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Threatened Closure of the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya Has Already Caused Irreparable Harm to Somali Refugees, New Refugees International Report Concludes

Washington, DC – Somali refugees will face further and considerable insecurity if the Kenyan government proceeds with its plans to close the Dadaab refugee camp in late November, according to the new Refugees International report, Refugee Returns from Kenya to Somalia: “This is About Fear… Not About Choice.” 

But even if the Kenyan government’s threat is empty, thousands of refugees have repatriated to Somalia where large-scale returns are unlikely to be sustainable. Facing pressure from the Kenyan government to leave, and induced by a monetary return package from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), returnees face dire conditions within Somalia, with food insecurity on the increase and continued fighting between a multitude of armed groups.

“The Somali refugees in Dadaab fled to Kenya to escape the violence, persecution, and turmoil at home. Forcing them back to Somalia now would return these people back to the very conditions from which they originally fled. UNHCR claims that it only supports voluntary returns, but none of the refugees whom we spoke with in Dadaab said they felt like they have much choice,” said Senior Advocate Mark Yarnell, author of the report.

Yarnell and Refugees International President Michel Gabaudan traveled to Kenya and Somalia in September 2016 to investigate the conditions for Somali refugees within Kenya and for those returning to Somalia. While in Somalia, Yarnell and Gabaudan traveled to Kismayo in the south, one of UNHCR’s designated areas for refugee returns, to gather first-hand information about the humanitarian and security conditions. Their findings inside Somalia add an important new dimension to the debate around the future of Dadaab and its inhabitants.

South central Somalia is experiencing a humanitarian crisis due to drought and conflict, and Kismayo itself is home to more than 40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who live in deplorable conditions. Access to work and education is very limited, and tragically, some recently returned refugees from Dadaab are now living in IDP camps inside Somalia and dependent on humanitarian aid for survival. Though Kismayo town is relatively safe, the presence of the armed group Al-Shabaab in the immediate surrounding area presents a threat to returnees, many of whom originally fled to Kenya because of this same insecurity.  

The Refugees International report offers a set of recommendations to support and protect the Somali refugees in Kenya and those returning to Somalia.  Those recommendations include:

• The Kenyan government must lift its deadline of November 30, 2016, for closing the Dadaab refugee camp. Further, it must cease coercive efforts to promote premature returns to Somalia and assure refugees that they will not be forcibly repatriated. 
• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) must improve and expand the information provided to Somali refugees in the Dadaab camp, sharing reliable information about security conditions in Somali areas of return and support available to Somalis when they depart Kenya.
• Donor countries and organizations must increase humanitarian assistance for Somalia to close a $500 million gap in UN funding and address urgent needs, particularly relating to food insecurity.

“The harm of Kenya’s announced policy is that the only option provided to refugees in the wake of closing the camp is return to Somalia – where, for many, hunger and violence awaits,” Yarnell concludes. “It is a failure of the international refugee response system that other options are not available, such as local integration or large-scale resettlement. Until better alternatives and processes are put in place – and until durable peace and development in Somalia take hold – the Dadaab camp must remain an option for the Somali refugees who have nowhere else to go.” 

Read the full report.

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Refugees International (RI) advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises. We are an independent organization, and do not accept any government or UN funding. For more information, visit www.refugeesinternational.org.