More Somalis deported in security swoop

By CYRUS OMBATI

Kenya: More Somalis were deported yesterday after authorities established they were in the country illegally.

Officials said some 28 Somalis were deported to Mogadishu in the ongoing operation against illegal immigrants. This brought to more than 110, the number of those deported so far since Wednesday.

Some 113 suspects had by Wednesday evening been screened and 15 of them were taken to court and charged with various counts while eight will be taken back to refugee camps.

Fifty-eight of them were released after their documents were verified as genuine.

Of those screened, 48 were Kenyans, 42 from Somalia and 23 Ethiopians, police said.

Thirteen of those who were to be deported had spent their night at the JKIA Police Station while the rest were driven from Kasarani Stadium, which has been gazetted as a police station, to the airport.

The Government seemed not to relent as more officers were mobilised to mop up illegal immigrants in the city.

Yesterday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku linked leaders opposed to the police crackdown in Eastleigh to tax evasion.

Lenku, while speaking on a morning radio show, said the Government was aware of businessmen who evade tax in Eastleigh.

“We will not relent in our operations because some of these criminals are here in the name of being refugees. We will continue and spread to other parts of the country,” he said.

Denied claims

He also denied knowledge of claims that one of those deported was mentally unstable.

More than 300, who include refugees, were being held yesterday for further interrogation after they were arrested in the ongoing swoop by police in Nairobi under Operation Usalama Watch.

Most of those in custody were individuals who are in the country without valid documents and those who were outside the precincts of legally gazetted areas.

The minister said the operation targets all illegal immigrants, seeks to arrest and prosecute persons suspected of engaging in terrorist activities, identify places harbouring criminals and contain and prevent general acts of crime and lawlessness.

He had on Wednesday visited Kasarani where he led a group of Government officials and human rights organisations, officials from UNHCR, Kenya National Human Rights Commission, US Embassy in Nairobi, British Embassy in Nairobi among other institutions to witness the screening of those arrested.

There were also Ugandans, Ethiopians, South Sudanese and Congolese nationals at the camp.

Those who did not provide their papers were taken to court and charged with being in the country illegally.

Lenku said they are paying attention to documents that the suspects produce to justify their nationality, which include IDs, passports, visa and work permits and refugee cards.

He said he is aware many illegal immigrants have moved from Nairobi to other towns but said their days are numbered.