By Boniface Ongeri and Adow Jubai

Despite the squalid living conditions in the camp, Abdullahi Abdi regards Dadaab refugee camp as the gateway to the promised land.

"I am ready to persevere conditions here because I know it guarantees me relocation abroad," he says smiling.

Abdullahi is a Kenyan Somali but has registered as a refugee at the Daadab refugee camp hoping to be among those who benefit from the occasional relocation of refugees to a third country, preferably US.

He confesses that he registered as a refugee in 1999 and gladly flashes a United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) card that recognises him as a refugee.
"Life is better as a refugee because there are many opportunities and hope compared to living in disgrace as a Kenyan," he says.

UNHCR officials register refugees from Somalia at the Dadaab refugee camp as dozens of others mill around the fence as they wait to be registered. Kenyan Somalis are taking advantage of their shared common language and culture to register as refugees in the hope of getting food rations. Photos:Boniface Ongeri /Standard

"Kenya government’s list of pledges remains unfulfilled," he says as he tucks back his refugee card to his pocket.

However, he is bitter that he was denied the opportunity to get a Kenyan identification card when he reached 18 years.

Subsequent attempts to register as a citizen have also failed.
"I opted to register as a refugee because it does not make any difference," he says.
Abdullahi is among thousands of Kenyans from North Eastern Province who have secretly left their homes to seek refugee status due to the drought and hoping to get relocated to other countries.
The Kenyans register as refugees in the believe that being a refugee boosts one’s chances of being relocated to much prosperous countries like US or UK.

They take advantage of their shared language and cultural background with the Somalia citizens thereby lying they are Somalis from the war torn country.
The UNHCR reports that the three camps of Ifo, Dagahaley and Hagaldera which form the larger Dadaab refugee camp has close to 300,000 refugees who fled from war in Somalia.

Unknown to many, the figures may have been stretched by Kenyans from the perennially drought stricken North Eastern Province who have been faking refugee status since the fall of Somalia in 1991.
When the Kenyans register they behave in every way like refugees.

They feign to the UNHCR officials to be from trouble spots in Somalia and with ease they acquire refugee status.
They tell of horrifying encounters in Somalia that forced them to seek refuge in Kenya. Unknown to many UNHCR officials, these are from peaceful villages in North Eastern Province.
CCI established that a majority of them are from Ijara, the larger Garissa and Wajir South districts.
The exact figure of the Kenyan population in the camp is hard to get but a UNHCR source at the camps who sought anonymity estimated the number to be more than 30 per cent of the entire refugee population.

The UNHCR reports that at least 130 new arrivals trickle to the camps everyday thus congesting the camp that was initially designed to cater for 90,000 people.
Now UNHCR has sought more land to decongest the camp. The Government has allocated 2,000 hectares in Fafi District for the exercise.
The new arrivals are the most likely to be moved to the new camps once structures are in place.

The Kenyans register as refugees for varied reasons.
Ms Halima Mudey, a Kenyan confesses she has registered as refugee.

"I just wanted to benefit from free relief food given in the camps," she says. "I hope to get past the current drought. If the situation improves, I will return to my village," she says, adding that she hails from Wajir South District. When we met her at Dagahaley, one of the three camps in Dadaab, Halima was busy repairing her shelter with sticks and plastic bags.
Her five family members peering from inside the shanty wore haggard looks.
"We came from Somalia a month ago. The children are terrified by the gory images of killing and shooting and bombing they witnessed behind the ungovernable Somalia," she initially told us before later admitting she was a Kenyan.

"I have to behave like someone who has seen it all or else I will be flushed out as a fake," she whispers when she realises we are aware of her status.
She looks and behaves like someone who has suffered in the war as she interacts with other refugees.

Dozens of her fellow villagers in Dagahaley near the camp recently registered as refugees to benefit from the food
rations. "We were left out from the Government list of those to benefit from relief food so we decided to come and try our luck here," Hassan Omar says.
A visit to the camps, some 100kilometres from Garissa town by CCI found some of the Kenyan Somalis jostling to
register as refugees.
They were taking advantage of the influx of Somalia nationals following the latest turbulence pitting the Somali transitional Federal Government of President Shariff Hassan and rebel Islamists.
"Hard times in Somalia are a blessing in disguise for some of us," Muhiddin Ahmed, a Kenyan Somali says.

However, Muhiddin, who registered as a refugee last year before he was 18 years old, is now regretting the move.
"It is hunger that drove me to the camps. Now it has turned against me because I can’t register as a Kenyan to acquire an identity card," he laments. "My attempts to acquire the national identity card were rejected because my finger
prints indicate I am already registered as a refugee," he told the Kenya Human Rights Commission in Garissa recently. The KHRC officials were in the province to establish why residents had difficulties acquiring national ID cards.

Garissa DC Joshua Ogango said some of the residents registered as refugees and when they sought ID cards
their finger prints showed they were refugees.
"There are Kenyans who have gone to register in refugee camps to benefit from relief food. We have numerous cases. When they want ID cards it reflects that they are
refugees. It is a problem that many don’t foresee when registering as refugees," Ogango says.
But even some with the national Identity card disregard their citizenship in the hope of being relocated and therefore having chances of living better lives abroad.
Those who register in the hope of being relocated are ready to live in squalid conditions in the camps as long as it guarantees them rights to be relocated.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) introduced the relocation programme for the refugees
to the US and European countries in 2003.

About 12,000 Somali nationals benefited from the programme when it was introduced. The relocation was derailed briefly in 2003 after America’s Congress and European Union slammed the door and tightened immigration rules on amnesty for potential asylum seekers.

"Several Kenyans including my relatives were among those who benefited and that encouraged me to register," a Kenyan who asked not to be named said. "I haven’t been
lucky because IOM is giving priority to those who have been in the camps for long but I will persevere."
Asked about the families they would be leaving behind in case they are relocated, most say that things will work out once they have moved abroad.

Although husbands are against their wives abandoning them for life in the camps, many argue it is worth the sacrifice.
It was also established that some register to benefit from the free secondary education the refugees enjoy in the main secondary schools in the camps. The UNHCR and partner agencies provide free secondary education for refugees and pays university education for exemplary performers.
The free medication at the refugee camps could be another motivator.

Those keen on relocation usually register and go back to their homes from where they monitor development.

UNHCR spokesman Emmanuel Nyabera says they are aware that some Kenyan cheat to register as refugees.

However, he says they have no evidence on the latest scam.

"In the past we managed to get information and actually confirmed that some Kenyans cheat the system to benefit from humanitarian assistance meant for refugees," Nyabera
says. "There were roughly about 4,000 who sneaked their names over the years. We are working with the Government to ensure only genuine refugees benefit," he adds.
"So far we have no evidence from the latest influx that Kenyans are registering as refugees," he says.