Dadaab camp to be closed in fresh move to kick out refugees

The government has said it will proceed with its plans to shut down Dadaab camp even as refugees continue to shun the voluntary repatriation programme started in 2014.

This is the latest bid to close down one of the oldest refugee centres in the region amid suspicions that it was harbouring terror sympathisers, setting the scene for another round of fierce lobbying from relief agencies.

Mr Kodeck Makori, head of the Refugee Affairs Secretariat, told the Nation that the voluntary repatriation programme had been going on since the pilot batch of 5,200 was done in December 2014.

“We have repatriated about 84,000 refugees from Somalia and other countries. So it is a continuing process,” he said on Friday.

“The government will close Dadaab as planned. As it is now, we do not have people who have declined the repatriation but we are carrying out the process with those who have accepted to return voluntarily,” he added.

FOURTH ATTEMPT

The secretariat took over from the Department of Refugee Affairs (partly funded by UNHCR), which was disbanded in 2016 as the government tried to force its hand to have the camp closed by suspending new registrations.

There are indications that the shut-down will have taken place by September, according to humanitarian workers who spoke to the Nation on condition of anonymity.

But the camp situated in Garissa county has been the centre of protracted negotiations between the Kenya government, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) and Somalia.

This will be the fourth attempt to close it.

DECLINING NUMBERS

In 2013, the three parties had signed a tripartite agreement to source funds, prepare the ground back in Somalia and facilitate the voluntary return of refugees. Those who accepted were to be given a stipend and other support.

But refugees seem to have shied away from this programme. Figures from UNHCR show that the number of refugees who left the camp on their own is more than those who went under the guided programme.

In 2014, there were about 350,000 refugees. Today, the camp hosts 210,556 refugees, of which 202,381 are from Somalia. According to UNHCR, some 79,328 Somali refugees have gone back under the voluntary repatriation.

Source: Daily nation.