Illegal migration thriving at far-flung border with Somalia

• Aliens pay well for their entry and many people are said to benefit from this cash

The commanding officer ordered us back into the vehicles and we were off before the action could begin.

Arrested

The Isbul-Islam are in charge of the Somalia side after they won a fierce fight against al Shabaab. The new militants are said to be less confrontational, unless you stray into their territory.

Back to the detained would-be immigrants. The immigration officer in charge of Liboi, Mr Bernard Mbinda, ordered the arrest of the four Somali nationals.

They calmly climbed into a police van headed for the Liboi police station as their Kenyan driver was left to “fix” his vehicle.

“This thing (illegal immigration) is complicated. Everybody benefits. The Somalis pay good money for their entry to be facilitated. Those who help also benefit. The police also get ‘something’,” said a resident who asked not be named for his own security.

A few metres ahead, we spotted another vehicle tucked away in the thicket, fifty metres from the road. The occupants were apparently buying time before resuming their journey.

Numerous donkey routes branch from the main road, making nonsense of the security checks towards the border.

“We try as much as we can to check the entry of illegal immigrants but we have not stamped it out. The border is long and it’s not possible to police it,” said Liboi district officer Elvis Korir.

He said it was difficult to effectively man the border without communication gadgets, but added that the radios installed recently would boost the capacity of the officers.

Efforts to stem the influx of Somalis are further complicated by the local community. They are highly secretive and rarely inform government officials on suspicious individuals.

“I would like to stress that our efforts cannot bear fruit without steadfast commitment of the governments of Kenya and Somalia,” Mr Okada said at Liboi.

Earlier on Tuesday, we had witnessed the handing over of a refurbished Liboi border control and provincial administration office blocks. The new look buildings, renovated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) through the funding of the Japanese Embassy in Kenya, boast very high frequency and high frequency radios as well as trained border police and immigration officials.

The $1 million (Sh78 million) project being implemented by IOM involves strengthening of the capacity of immigration officers at Mandera and Liboi in migration management.

The project under the fourth Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development project, “Capacity Building to Enhance Migration Management, Security and Protection in South Central Somalia and Kenya”, is faced with huge challenges of securing Kenya’s porous borders with Somalia.