Kenya has given the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) three months to close Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in the world which is the home to over 350,000 Somali refugees. This was announced towards the end of last week as a key step in dealing with the al-Shabaab menace in the country.
The Government of Kenya holds the strong belief that the camp is being used as a haven for al- Shabaab militants. Perpetrators of the worst terrorist attack on the country at the Garissa University College are said to have planned from and hid at the Dadaab Refugee Camp.
Dadaab was established in 1991 with the sole aim of housing the families that were fleeing the war-struck Somalia and has been home to some people for the past 20 years.
Dadaab is only 100km or 62 miles from Garissa where the worst attack yet in the East African country took place.
The Kenya Deputy President, William Ruto on Saturday said that unless the UNHCR closed the camp, Kenya would relocate the refugee to Somalia herself. He further emphasized the government’s promise to crackdown on the Somali militants and all their sympathizers, financiers and supporters within Kenya and the first step was Dadaab Camp Closure.
In additional to sending the Somali refugees back home Kenya is erecting a 700km (440miles) wall along the entire length of her border with Somalia.
The UNHCR however has come out to warm Kenya of the serious humanitarian repercussions of the camp’s closure. The UNHCR spokeswoman Karin de Gruijl said that the resolution to close the camp would have beyond extreme Practical and humanitarian consequences.
The 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, which Kenya ratified in 1966, stipulates that countries must not forcibly return refugees to countries where they may be at risk. UNHCR said it is not possible to return the camp’s residents safely to their homes.
The agency however offered the government of Kenya a deal that would involve it helping the law enforcers within the camp to combat the al-Shabaab threat.
