By STEPHEN ASTARIKO @stephenastariko
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Fafi MCA Mustapha Abdirashid (C) and other Garissa MCAs address the press outside the county assembly yesterday / STEPHEN ASTARIKO
By STEPHEN ASTARIKO @stephenastariko
Garissa MCAs yesterday said the state has sidelined them in the repatriation process of 350,000 Somali refugees in the Dadaab camp.
They told the press the government only engages MPs.
Led by Fafi MCA Mustafa Abdirashid, the 20 ward representatives said the government has deliberately ignored their input, despite their wards hosting the refugees for the past 25 years.
“We want to voice our concern at the manner in which the government is carrying out the exercise. As the local leadership we have completely been kept in the dark. As the local host community, we feel we should be involved in every step of the repatriation process,” he said.
Abdirashid’s ward hosts the Kambioos and Hagadera refugee camps.
He said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its implementing partners have not explained what will happen to agreements for infrastructure projects such as schools, dispensaries and boreholes, once the refugees are repatriated.
“We want to know the fate of our host community development projects that were promised by the previous High Commissioner António Guterres. We want the agreements that were reached respected and upheld,” Abdirashid said.
Host communities, which largely depend on livestock, have been affected by the presence of refugees, the MCA said.
“The refugees have completely destroyed the environment and led to the dilapidation of infrastructure that was there before,” he added.
Jarajila MCA Mahat Osman urged the government to plan how it will compensate the host community, saying their land has been degraded.