Kenya stritter imod at åbne flere flygtningelejre – antallet af fordrevne fra kampene og tørken i nabolandet Somalia er allerede overvældende
DADAAB, 2 September 2011 (IRIN): For months, the Kenyan government resisted opening an extension of the world’s largest refugee complex in Dadaab to accommodate Somalis displaced by drought and conflict, finally relenting in late August.
The town, about 80 km from Somalia in Kenya’s arid Garissa region, has been drawing in refugees for more than two decades, throwing up complex problems that fuel Kenya’s frustration at having handled more than its share of the “Somalia problem”, says Badu Katelo, Kenya’s acting commissioner for refugees.
Somali refugees outnumber locals in Dadaab by a quarter of a million at least and counting, said J Ndamburi, the district commissioner.
The three camps – Hagadera, Dagahaley and Ifo – designed for 90.000 people, now host approximately 440.000 refugees (flere end der bor i Århus, red.), of whom 150.000 (all Somalis) have arrived in the past three months, according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.
Ron Redmond, a spokesman for UNHCR, said it recognized the “tremendous sacrifices made by the Kenyans in hosting the Somali refugees” and was doing all it could to help them. Ifo 2, designed to accommodate 90.000, had been vacant since November 2010.
The government, aid agencies and local community say the situation as it stands is unsustainable and needs to be re-examined.
Badu Katelo said the international community and richer countries such as South Africa should step forward to shoulder their responsibility towards the Somali refugees.
– Just because Somalia is our neighbour, it is not our problem alone – the UN Security Council should adopt a resolution making it mandatory for everyone to play their role in addressing the situation and resolving conflict in Somalia, he noted.
A Kenyan government proposal to set up camps along the Somali border was rejected by the UN and NGOs recently as “untenable” (uholdbar) as the security situation in Somalia continued to be “highly volatile”.
This, too, contradicts the notion of providing international protection, and impinges upon (kolliderer med) the right to seek asylum.
Drought-driven influx
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