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Somalia: Refugees and Camps
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Jul 24, 2011 (110724)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
The new drought crisis, and increased flow of refugees to
Kenya and Ethiopia, comes on top of years of overcrowding
and incapacity to deal with the refugee flow from Somalia.
The greatest responsibility has fallen on Kenya, where the
vast majority of refugees are housed in the huge camp at
Dadaab. The failure of the international community includes
not only the lack of early response to the latest drought,
but the inability to find a sustainable solution other than
warehousing refugees in camps.
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains excerpts from one
document dealing particularly with the situation of Somali
Refugees in Kenya. The excerpts from this December 2010
report by Amnestry International focus particularly on the
situation of refugees in the Dadaab camp. A similar report,
documenting the same issues, was released by Human Rights
Watch in March 2009 (http://www.hrw.org / direct URL:
http://tinyurl.com/dmkvmz)
While these reports focus on the responsibilities of Kenya,
it is important to note that the responsibility for
refugees belongs not only to the country of immediate
arrival, but to other countries in the international
community. "Warehousing refugees" as has been done in the
case of Somalis in Kenya is not a sustainable solution and
is a violation of the fundamental rights of refugees (see
http://www.refugees.org / http://tinyurl.com/3gmxzjb). The
international community, not only the country of first
asylum, has the responsibility for finding sustainable
solutions, through resettlement and employment in other
countries if return to the home country is not a possible
option.
Another AfricaFocus Bulletin sent out by e-mail today,
available on the web at
http://www.africafocus.org/docs11/som1107a.php, contains
several more recent documents on the current crisis.
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Somalia, visit
http://www.africafocus.org/country/somalia.php
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From Life without Peace to Peace without Life
The Treatment of Somali Refugees and Asylum-seekers in
Kenya
Amnesty International
December 8, 2010
[Excerpts: For full report, see
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR32/015/2010/en]
Introduction
This document focuses on certain aspects of the treatment
of Somali nationals who have found refuge in Kenya. Whilst
Amnesty International recognises that there are many human
rights issues of concern affecting Somali refugees and
asylum-seekers in Kenya, this document describes only some
of these human rights issues, and in particular:
...
- the situation in the three Dadaab camps in North-Eastern
Kenya, which host mainly Somali refugees, including
overcrowding, policing, allegations of recruitment of
refugees for military training and restrictions on the
right to freedom of movement; and
- the situation of Somali asylum-seekers and refugees in
urban areas of Kenya, including police harassment and
reports of refoulement. The Somali people constitute one of
the largest refugee populations in the world. ...
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
the UN Refugee Agency, more than 1.4 million people are
internally displaced in Somalia and over 600,000 Somali
nationals have taken refuge in neighbouring countries. ...
[Note: this and following statistics as of 2010.]
Kenya hosts the largest number of Somali refugees in the
region, with 338,151 registered refugees as of September
2010, according to UNHCR. However, the overall number of
Somali nationals living in Kenya is probably much higher,
as many are not registered. While Somali nationals have
sought refuge in Kenya for many years, the intensification
of the armed conflict in southern and central Somalia since
the end of 2006 has resulted in renewed large flows of
Somali asylum-seekers fleeing to Kenya.
The large numbers of Somali nationals and the resources
required to support them presents a monumental challenge
for the Kenyan authorities. Amnesty International considers
that Kenya disproportionately shoulders the responsibility
for large refugee flows from Somalia. Kenya needs more
support from the international community to provide durable
solutions to such a large number of refugees, in terms of
both increased support for local integration projects and a
substantial increase in the numbers of Somali nationals
benefiting from resettlement programmes in third countries.
Whilst undoubtedly Kenya has shouldered the lion's share of
responsibility world-wide by hosting a huge Somali refugee
population, the Kenyan authorities' restricting of the
rights of Somali refugees and asylum-seekers on their
territory is a matter of profound concern.
In January 2007, the Kenyan authorities closed the
country's 682 km border with Somalia, and the main transit
centre in Liboi operated by UNHCR8 for those crossing the
border, following the resurgence of armed conflict in
Somalia between the Transitional Federal Government of
Somalia (TFG), supported by Ethiopian troops, and the
Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in December 2006. The Kenyan
government said that ICU fighters, whom it suspected of
links with al-Qaeda, might enter Kenya and endanger
national security. Following the border closure, reports of
Kenyan security forces extorting bribes from Somali asylumseekers
or forcibly returning them to Somalia have
increased. At the same time, the Kenyan authorities have
turned a blind eye to the flow of Somali asylum-seekers who
continue to cross the border despite its official closure,
failing to respond to their protection needs.
Further, the Kenyan authorities have not responded
adequately to the increasing overcrowding in the Dadaab
refugee camps and the consequent strain on the provision of
essential services to asylum-seekers and refugees. Some
280,000 registered Somali refugees are confined to the
three refugee camps in Dadaab in North Eastern Kenya, some
80 km from the Kenyan border with Somalia, where their
access to shelter, water, sanitation and other essential
services is impeded by severe overcrowding. As one refugee
said to Amnesty International: "In Mogadishu, there was
life, but there was no peace. Here, we have peace but we
have no life." The refugees are generally not permitted to
leave the camps, unless in exceptional circumstances, and
they have almost no livelihood opportunities. Several
refugees have told Amnesty International that for them the
Dadaab camps are comparable to an open prison, from which
there is no escape, except for the very few who are
selected for resettlement in third countries.
In addition, refugees complain of insecurity in the camps,
which they attribute to either tensions with other
refugees, or to the alleged presence of members or
sympathisers of al-Shabab, the Somali armed Islamist group
that currently controls most of the territory in southern
and central Somalia. Aid and protection agencies have told
Amnesty International that there are not enough police
officers present in the camps to adequately address
security incidents. Refugees also complain about abuses by
the Kenyan security forces in and around the camps and
about their lack of accountability.
Many Somali nationals also live in Nairobi and other major
cities in Kenya, some without proper documentation and
therefore more vulnerable to exploitation. Urban Somali
asylum-seekers and refugees are often harassed, arrested,
arbitrarily detained, and at risk of ill-treatment and
refoulement by the Kenyan security forces. Many report
having to pay bribes to police officers in order to be
released from detention and not to be forcibly returned to
Somalia, in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.
Amnesty International has long called on the Kenyan
government to ensure that Somali nationals fleeing armed
conflict and human rights abuses in Somalia are able to
cross the border and seek refuge and protection on Kenyan
soil. The organization has also repeatedly called on the
Kenyan government to allocate more land in North-Eastern
Kenya where refugees could be hosted so as to decongest the
camps. Kenyan government officials agreed that Ifo, one of
Dadaab's three camps, could be extended and have also
agreed in principle to the establishment of a fourth camp.
The extension of Ifo is now underway but the building of a
fourth camp has yet to begin. Amnesty International also
has long-standing concerns about human rights violations by
the Kenyan security forces and the impunity with which they
operate. Somali refugees are particularly vulnerable to
abuse by the security forces in Kenya, given the ambiguity
of government policy towards them and the real risk that
they can be forcibly returned to Somalia.
The Kenyan government needs to address Somalia's refugee
crisis urgently in order to improve the lives of those it
hosts on it territory, in line with its obligations under
its own Refugee Act (2006) as well as international refugee
law instruments, including the 1951 Convention related to
the Status of Refugees (the UN Refugee Convention) and its
1967 Protocol. The Kenyan authorities have strongly
denounced the deteriorating situation in Somalia, which
Amnesty International welcomes, but they also have the duty
to ensure that Somali nationals fleeing gross human rights
abuses and indiscriminate violence can access refuge and
adequate protection on Kenyan soil.
...
Life in the Camps
1. Lack of access to essential services as a result of
congestion in the camps
Amnesty International is concerned that the Kenyan
authorities have failed to respond adequately to the severe
overcrowding in the Dadaab camps by turning a blind eye to
the huge numbers of asylum-seekers continuously entering
the country. The rights of the asylum-seekers and refugees
to housing, water, sanitation, health and education have
been severely compromised.
The three refugee camps in Dadaab, Ifo, Dagahaley and
Hagadera were originally established in the early 1990s to
accommodate 90,000 refugees divided equally between the
camps. As of 15 March 2010, the refugee population in the
three camps was 266,594 people, with almost 150,000 new
arrivals since January 2007. The camps' resources and
infrastructure have been stretched beyond capacity and the
quality and quantity of essential services delivered
heavily compromised.
The increase in population has not been matched by a
commensurate rise in the land made available to host
refugees. As a result, newly arrived refugees have had to
stay with relatives and clan members. They cannot build
their own shelters because there are no plots of land
available. New arrivals are given plastic sheeting to use
as tents, which are extremely hot during the day and do not
protect them from bad weather conditions. Humanitarian
agencies have seen their resources stretched as well and at
times plastic sheeting and mosquito nets are not always
readily available for those newly arrived.
The existing water infrastructure in the camps was designed
for three times less the number of refugees actually in the
camps and the water pipe system is old and strained.
Families complain that water allocation is insufficient,
and that there are frequent disputes at water taps.
Refugees living on the edge of the camps have to walk long
distances to collect water.
Although there are primary and secondary education
facilities in the camps, they cannot cater for the needs of
a growing population, including of unaccompanied minors,
many of whom have arrived in the last three years and who
do not have access to education. Those newly arrived from
Somalia, where access to and quality of education is
severely compromised by the armed conflict, face a huge
challenge in adapting to a new education system. Many
children, particularly girls, have never been to school
when they were living in Somalia, other than duksi (Koranic
school).
Medical facilities are also stretched, and psychosocial
services and counselling are minimal, considering the high
level of trauma that the vast majority of the population
coming from Somalia have endured.
UNHCR has negotiated with the Kenyan government and the
host community of Kenyans living in the areas where the
camps are located to address the severe overcrowding of the
camps. UNHCR has been given a provisional and conditional
licence to build a fourth camp in Dadaab by the National
Environment Management Authority, though the conditions are
yet to be defined. In addition, the Garissa county council
has approved land for the expansion of Ifo camp. This
extension is currently under development and is known as
Ifo II and III.
The part of the extension known as Ifo II will have a
holding capacity of 40,000.
UNHCR plans to resettle an estimated 30,000 Ifo camp
residents who live in heavily congested and flood-prone
areas to Ifo II, as well as an additional 5,000 to 10,000
new arrivals who have settled on the periphery of Dagahaley
camp. Work on Ifo III, which will also have a holding
capacity of 40,000, is set to begin in early 2011 and will
be reserved for newly arriving refugees. Though the Ifo
extension is currently underway, there are reports that
some members of the host community25 are attempting to
delay this process.
In 2009, over 13,000 refugees were relocated from Dadaab to
Kakuma, another refugee camp on the Kenyan border with
Sudan.
These measures should gradually alleviate the severe
overcrowding in the Dadaab camps. However, it is essential
that conditions for the fourth camp are agreed in order to
address the continuing influx of refugees and to ensure
that the delivery of essential services adequately fulfil
refugees' right to adequate shelter, food, water and
education.
2. Policing in the camps
The Kenyan authorities have an obligation to ensure
adequate protection of refugees in camps, including through
effective policing. However, refugees complain of
insecurity in the camps. Somali people who arrived recently
alleged in interviews with Amnesty International that
members and sympathisers of al-Shabab, the armed Islamist
group in Somalia, were present in the camps or travelled
through it.
Overcrowding has exacerbated insecurity and incidences of
crimes among the refugees in the camps. Somali refugees
report that as the number of people living in the camps
increases, so do incidents of theft and sexual abuse.
Humanitarian workers and UNHCR also report an increase in
cases of sexual violence, including rape, early and forced
marriages, and unwanted pregnancies in the camps. The
majority of newly arrived refugees are women and children,
including unaccompanied minors whose parents were killed in
the armed conflict in Somalia, or who have been separated
from them when fleeing. Aid agencies have expressed concern
that children who have been adopted or are fostered by
other families can be at risk of being used as domestic
workers. Overcrowded shelters make women and girls
particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse.
Conflicts among individuals hailing from different clans
within the Somali communities present in the camps, as well
as between Somalis and refugees from other countries were
also reported by many of the refugees interviewed by
Amnesty International.
UNHCR has stressed that there are not enough police
officers to address insecurity, theft and sexual abuse in
the three Dadaab camps. Furthermore, there is distrust of
the police among refugees, many of whom have been victims
of abuses at the hands of Kenyan security forces while on
their way to the camps.
Kenya's Minister for Internal Security established a
committee in June 2010, following a Human Rights Watch
report detailing instances of police abuse of Somali
refugees and asylum-seekers near the Kenya-Somalia border.
This committee appears to be tasked with investigating
whether the Human Rights Watch allegations are true. The
committee, comprised of officers from the Office of the
Prime Minister, the Provincial Administration and the
Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims among others, travelled to
Dadaab refugee camps to investigate these allegations in
August 2010. In Dadaab, the committee spoke to UNHCR staff,
NGOs and refugees. Though it was indicated informally to
NGOs in Dadaab that the committee would produce a report
detailing the findings of the committee, it is not clear
whether these would be made public. To date, Amnesty
International is not aware of any report published as a
result of the committee's work.
...
Amnesty International believes that, for the police to work
better with the refugee communities, a strong signal must
be sent to the refugees and the police alike that police
abuses will not be tolerated, and that police officers are
not above the law.
...
4. Freedom of movement
Somali refugees in the Dadaab camps cannot venture out
without special permission. Though no official policy to
confine people to the camps36 has ever been enacted in
Kenya, nevertheless, a de facto camp confinement policy is
enforced by the Kenyan government. Refugees receive free
humanitarian assistance in the camps, but if they reach
urban areas, they have to be economically self-sufficient.
The camps offer almost no economic opportunities to
refugees. Those who work for UNHCR and humanitarian
agencies are not allowed to receive a wage; instead, they
receive "incentives". With adequate shelter, water,
sanitation and education and other essential services
detrimentally affected by the severe
overcrowding in the camps, many refugees, the majority of
whom are young people, prefer to go to urban areas, where
they believe they would have more work opportunities and a
chance to improve their life.
Whilst refugees do get free assistance in the camps,
Amnesty International believes that the dearth of
livelihood opportunities causes them hardship and increases
their desperation, hindering self-reliance and creating
push factors towards urban centres where they can become
vulnerable to exploitation, as described below.
Refugees must apply for a movement pass to be able to
travel outside the camps. Permission is granted to refugees
needing medical treatment unavailable in the camps, pupils
and students who have obtained a scholarship or a place to
study in education establishments outside the camps, for
family reasons (such as funerals), or for attending
resettlement interviews set up by embassies of third
countries. Those who need to be moved away from the Dadaab
camps for their own protection are also considered.
Refugees travelling without permission risk detention or
forced returns by the Kenyan security forces. Even those in
possession of a movement pass for medical reasons have at
times been arrested.
The authorities have discretion to restrict the issuance of
travel documents on security grounds. For almost a year, a
vetting committee, which comprises the Provincial
Commissioner of North-Eastern Kenya, representatives of
Kenya's security forces, including the national
intelligence services and the military, and the Department
of Refugee Affairs, has screened requests for movement
passes on security grounds. The committee was reportedly
set up because the Kenyan authorities considered that too
many refugees were not returning to the camps after
obtaining passes, and that some of the movement passes used
were fake. This has further curtailed the issuing of
movement passes, as national security concerns are
prioritised over the rights of refugees, and because the
committee does not meet often enough.
The government of Kenya should ensure that all recognised
refugees, including those in Dadaab, have full freedom of
movement throughout Kenya in accordance with relevant
international standards.
Conclusion
Amnesty International recognises the immense challenge that
the Kenyan authorities face whilst hosting the largest
percentage worldwide of refugees from conflict-ridden
Somalia, and the Kenyan government's security concerns
related to the actions of Somali armed groups, present just
on the other side of the border with Somalia.
However, this does not justify in any way human rights
violations against Somali refugees and asylum-seekers on
Kenyan soil. The Kenyan authorities are bound by
international human rights and refugee law to provide
refuge and protection to Somali nationals fleeing
persecution and armed conflict, and to ensure that its
security forces respect international human rights law at
all times, including when dealing with refugees and asylumseekers.
In addition, as some among the Kenyan authorities
recognise, the closure of the Kenya/Somalia border and the
screening centre do not help in addressing Kenya's security
concerns, while having a negative impact on the rights of
refuges.
The Kenyan authorities are also responsible for ensuring
that all refugees are able to access adequate humanitarian
aid on Kenyan soil, including adequate shelter, medical
services and education, and that they are not denied their
right to freedom of movement.
With no end in sight to the armed conflict in southern and
central Somalia, the Kenyan government must urgently
reconsider, with the help of the international community,
how to provide durable solutions to Somali nationals who
seek refuge in Kenya. Given the refugee crisis that Kenya
faces, local integration projects that respect the rights
and needs of both refugees and host communities and
resettlement of Somali refugees to third countries must be
considered. Donor countries have an important role to play
in sharing international responsibility towards Somali
refugees and asylum-seekers and in assisting the Kenyan
government to fulfil its human rights obligations.
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic
publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on
African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and
international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by
William Minter.
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