Nkaissery forms team to handle repatriation of refugees

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery has appointed 11 people to a taskforce formed to spearhead repatriation of refugees.

The team, which will be led by Mr Joseph Irungu and Dr Gordon Kihalangwa will, among other things, develop modalities for repatriation and determine timelines and the cost of the exercise.

In a gazette notice dated May 11, the CS said the team will also develop a management and control strategies during the period of repatriation.

It will also come up with verification criteria for refugees, which will later be fed into a database and also plan for the provision of security during repatriation.

“The taskforce will also develop a sensitization programme on the exercise for communities hosting refugees. It will also examine and recommend appropriate legal and policy framework to enable repatriation in light of existing laws and conventions,” Mr Nkaissery said.

The team that has Wilberforce Kilonzo and Muthoni Kanyugo as the joint secretaries should submit its report to the CS by May 31.

Other members of the National Taskforce on Repatriation of Refugees are Martin Kimani, Richard Ndubai, Mohamud Saleh, Reuben Kimotho, Brig George Walwa, Catherine Bunyassi, Catherine Mogaka, Boniface Maingi, Naman Owuor and Haron Komen.

On Wednesday, Nkaissery said repatriation of refugees and subsequent closure of the Dadaab camp, in Garissa County, are essential in the restoration of national security.

BAD DECISION

He said the decision was arrived at in November 2013, when Kenya, Somalia and UNHCR signed a Tripartite Agreement setting grounds for the exercise even though implementation has been slow.

“This decision has been made by government reflecting the fact that the camps have become hosting grounds for Al-Shabaab as well as centres of smuggling and contraband trade besides being enablers of illicit weapons proliferation,” Nkaissery said.

He said the government will not overlook its primary responsibility to protect her citizens and their property.

But the Somali government is unhappy with Kenya’s decision warning it will further compromise security in the country and beyond.

It is asking Kenya to reconsider the planned expulsion of the about 330,000 refugees- mostly of Somali origin.

In a statement on Friday, Somalia said Kenya’s decision goes against the agreement that calls for the safe and dignified resettlement of refugees in their home countries.

“This will negatively affect Somali refugees housed in the two camps and will make the threat of terrorism worse, given the volatile situation this sudden decision will cause,” said the statement by Somalia’s ministry of Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion.