- Title: Kenya drawing up timetable to close refugee camp for Somalis
- Date: 11th May 2016
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (MAY 11, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF INTERIOR AND COORDINATION OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, JOSEPH NKAISSERY, ARRIVING MEMBERS OF REFUGEES TASK FORCE AT NEWS BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (English) CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF INTERIOR AND COORDINATION OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, JOSEPH NKAISSERY, SAYING: "Kenya is committed to closing Dadaad refugee complex. This decision has been made by government reflecting the fact that the camps have become hosting grounds for al Shabab as well as senders of smuggling and contraband trade, besides being enablers of illicit weapon proliferation." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS VARIOUS OF REFUGEES TASK FORCE MEMBERS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF INTERIOR AND COORDINATION OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, JOSEPH NKAISSERY, SAYING: "As availed with immediate effect, ten million US dollars as part of putting in place a requisite technical infrastructure to oversee the repatriation process. The government as of today gazetted a task force on repatriation of refugees whose mandate will be to oversee, manage, expedite the repatriation and the closure of the Dadaad refugee complex." JOURNALIST AT NEWS BRIEFING NKAISSERY LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 26th May 2016 15:37
- Keywords: Kenya Dadaab refugee camp Somalis security Shabaab
- Location: NAIROBI AND DADAAB, KENYA
- City: NAIROBI AND DADAAB, KENYA
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0014HD7DC7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Kenya is drawing up a timetable to close Dadaab refugee camp that hosts about 350,000 Somalis because of security concerns, the interior minister said on Wednesday (May 11), after the United Nations urged it to reconsider such a move.
The East African nation has suffered from a spate of Islamist attacks claimed by the Islamist Somali group al Shabaab. It has set up a taskforce to handle the closure plan, Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said.
"The camps have become hosting grounds for al Shabab as well as senders of smuggling and contraband trade, besides being enablers of illicit weapon proliferation," the minister told a news conference.
Kenya's government has long said Dadaab, which lies near the Somali border, has been used by Islamists to launch attacks, such as the Westgate shopping mall assault in Nairobi in 2013.
Hundreds of Kenyans have been killed in that attack and other assaults mainly in Nairobi, the northeast and coast.
The Interior Ministry says it hosts 600,000 refugees, many from neighbouring Somalia and South Sudan. Some refugees have lived in Dadaab for decades and some were born there.
Last year, Kenya said it was setting a three-month deadline to close Dadaab, but backtracked on the plan following UN criticism of any forced return.
Last week, the Interior Ministry said it would shut Dadaab in the "shortest time possible", prompting the UN refugee agency UNHCR to voice "profound concern" and renew its call for Kenya to reconsider.
The UNHCR, Kenya and Somalia signed a tripartite agreement in 2013 to repatriate Somali refugees voluntarily. As Somalia has slowly started recovering from war and chaos, Dadaab has shrunk from more than half a million people to about 350,000.
The UNHCR said in January it aimed to repatriate a further 50,000 in 2016 but also said this would be a difficult target to achieve given the Somali government is still battling an al Shabaab insurgency and there are few schools or public services. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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