Kenya unhappy with pace of Somali refugees’ repatriation, says Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery has blamed the international community for reluctance in supporting the Somalia repatriation effort.

Kenya says it is not happy with the pace of repatriation of refugees to Somalia.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said since the Tripartite Agreement was signed on November 13, 2013 between Kenya, Federal Government of Somalia and the UNHCR only 4,214 Somali refugees of the nearly 500,000 have been repatriated.

“We are not pleased with the rate of the implementation of this agreement.  While a Tripartite Commission was launched in April 2015, not much has been achieved,” he said.

Nkaissery said Kenyans see the repatriation of the Somali refugees as crucial to enabling them engage in rebuilding of Somalia and especially ahead of their elections in August 2016.

He spoke Monday in Geneva, Switzerland during the executive committee of the high commissioner’s programme.

The minister said the missing link to the ambition has been the near reluctance of the international community to support the Somalia repatriation effort.

He urged the international community to support the Global Initiative on Somali Refugees, whose pledging conference will be held in Brussels on October 21, 2015.

He said it is imperative that humanitarian actors dealing with the Somalia situation relocate into Somalia.

Besides ensuring that they can create the necessary infrastructure to support return, it would also signal international community’s confidence in the rehabilitation of Somalia, he argued.

“While Kenya faces considerable stress from this obligation, we continue to demonstrate our commitment and call upon our partners to enhance their support towards this end. That will enable us continue to honour our international obligations.”

He said Kenya hosts more than 500,000 refugees in camps, in some of the most ecologically fragile parts of our country, for more than two decades now.

Haven for terrorists

The minister said Kenya’s experience indicates that the longer refugee camps are allowed to thrive, the more likely they are to lose their humanitarian character, threatening the very essence of asylum protection and assistance. 

He said Dabaab refugee complex has been a haven for terrorists and their agents and revealed the final planning and logistical support for nearly all terrorist attacks in Kenya have been executed under the cover of the refugee camps.

“The final planning of the Westgate attacks was finalised in the camp, the weapons that attacked the Garissa University earlier this year were ferried and hidden in the camps.  As late as last week we recovered a large cache of arms as well as phones in the refugee camp.”

Nkaissery said the camps have also become conduits for other criminal activities including contraband and counterfeits goods, with serious ramifications for the country’s economy.

“These actions transform the refugee camps to the internal security domain.”

He said Kenya is concerned about the alleged involvement or complacency of some UNHCR personnel activities that facilitate terrorist activities in the country and they are undertaking an analysis of the situation and will take all necessary measures, within the ambit of the rule of law.

“We cannot as a country continue to offer asylum and protection to populations in spaces and areas that are taken over by criminal elements, and in this case, terrorists and their agents,” he said.

He said Amisom troops in Somalia have liberated many areas where the refugees can settle.