Even according to African culture, expelling refugees is not an option
What you need to know:
The vast majority of the refugees are law-abiding people who came to Kenya to seek safety from war and/or famine.
Most of the Dadaab refugees were born in Kenya, went to school, married, and started families here.
The news that they are to be repatriated to a country they have only heard about must be a great shock to them.
Growing up in rural Kenya, cases of foreigners arriving in our villages were not uncommon.
Tradition required that they be received and treated with dignity.
“When the alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” — Leviticus 19:33-34
Once upon a time, none of us lived in this land. Students of history will concur that our forefathers migrated from the north, perhaps somewhere in, or close to, present-day Egypt.
That was hundreds of years ago. Our ancestors’ convergence on present-day Kenya was, strictly speaking, an accident of history.
The Ministry of Interior, while announcing that the government planned to close the refugee camps in northern Kenya, cited the security of the Kenyan people as the main reason for its decision.
Strategically located along the Indian Ocean shoreline and considered a key ally of the Western powers, Kenya has suffered more terrorist attacks in the past decade-and-a-half than its neighbours in the region.
The government has been keen to convince the international community that the Dadaab refugee camp, which hosts more than 350,000, mainly Somali refugees, is being used by Al-Shabaab as a breeding ground for terrorists.
The vast majority of the refugees are law-abiding people who came to Kenya to seek safety from war and/or famine.
With the first wave of refugees arriving in 1991 after the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre, most of the Dadaab refugees were born in Kenya, went to school, married, and started families here.
Many of these people know no other home. In that harsh environment, some have started thriving businesses, underscoring the resilient, never-say-die spirit of the human race.
The news that they are to be repatriated to a country they have only heard about must be a great shock to them.
UBUNTU
As human beings, we are endowed with this powerful emotion known as sympathy.
It is this emotion that drives us to care for one another and restrains us from hurting fellow human beings. In Africa we call it ubuntu.
Growing up in rural Kenya, cases of foreigners arriving in our villages were not uncommon.
They could have been traders in transit who only needed a place to rest a while before continuing with their journey.
They could have been running away from biting famine or escaping hostile neighbours.
Tradition required that they be received and treated with dignity.
If they overstayed their welcome and were still uncomfortable about returning home, the host would sometimes show them a place outside the homestead where they could construct a house and a farm to till so they could live a normal life.
This wisdom embraced by our forbearers should inform the government’s intention to shut down refugee camps.
The government, working with the relevant refugee agencies, has the responsibility to provide security and keep criminal elements out.
It can even seek international help to do this. It makes little sense to subject thousands of women, men, and children to suffering because of the mistakes of a few.
Although there is a government in Somalia, the overall situation in the troubled nation remains volatile.
Under international law, the refugees have a well-founded fear that they could be persecuted if they return.
International refugee law, which Kenya has ratified and is therefore obligated to honour, also protects refugees from being forcibly repatriated.
Driven by humaneness and guided by international law, Kenya has three options.
One, it can, and should, encourage the refugees who want to return to their countries of origin to voluntarily do so.
The second option is to appeal to other countries, particularly those that have signed and ratified the UN Refugee Convention, to provide permanent settlement for the refugees.
The final option is for Kenya to encourage local integration, including the possibility of citizenship, as provided for in law. Expelling the refugees is simply not an option.
Mr Nyang’aya is Amnesty International Kenya country director. [email protected].
