Although, according to media reports, United Nation Security Council members from New York, USA are expected for a four-day visit to Kenya, Somalia, and Egypt, when the refugee crisis is likely to feature prominently during talks with the president, this is according to the Security Council report, an online publication covering the United Nation’s decision-making body.
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The Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said the camp in northern Kenya has become a safe haven for al-Shabaab fighters who have used it as a base for smuggling weapons.
He said al-Shabab planned three large-scale attacks from Dadaab. It urged the government to “avoid taking any action that might be at odds with its worldwide obligations”.
Volway said the global community needs to look for longer term solutions to the refugee crisis in Kenya and reconsider the amount of refugees that third countries, such as Canada are accepting.
“I will tell you for a fact, like, the people who carried out the terror attacks at Westgate, several of them were traced either through phone calls or through various contacts – intelligence – to refugee camps in Dadaab”.
Earlier, a coalition of humanitarian organizations, including Jesuit Refugee Service, also asked the government to reconsider closing the camps.
Brewer wondered if the Kenyan government would change its mind if it received more support from the worldwide community.
“In Europe, rich, prosperous and democratic countries are turning away refugees from Syria, one of the worst war zones since World War Two”, Nkaissery said, raising speculation that Kenya might be interested in a deal like Turkey. Simpson said there is no evidence that the refugees are behind the mall bombing.
The talks in Nairobi will also touch on the refugees’ repatriation, as well as the general situation in Somalia.
“Many Kenyans have gone into refugee camps and have been registered in the UNHCR database”.
“It could lead to the involuntary return of thousands of refugees to Somalia and other countries of origin, where their lives may still be in danger”.
Another solution would be to provide the opportunity for refugees to fully integrate in host countries, Volway said.
A newly arrived Somali refugee is forced out of the queue outside a reception centre in the Ifo 2 refugee camp in Dadaab, near the Kenya-Somalia border, in Garissa County, Kenya July 28, 2011.
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Nevertheless, given the direction things have been moving the last few years, Kenya’s recent announcement simply felt like the final nail in the coffin to many of Dadaab’s residents.
