Al-Shabaab harassing Somali refugees returning home from Kenya

Thursday, July 25, 2013

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Al-Shabaab militants have instituted a campaign of intimidation toward Somali refugees returning home from camps in Kenya by roughing up the men and burning families' belongings.

Since May, al-Shabaab militants have harassed hundreds of returning refugees at roadblocks near the Somali-Kenyan border, said bus driver Aadan Jimale.

Jimale showed several bruises on his body, saying al-Shabaab fighters recently stopped his bus on the route between Dhobley and Mogadishu, striking him with their rifle butts as he tried to protect his passengers.

"The passengers we picked up from Dhobley are people who had stayed at the Dadaab camps in Kenya for a long time. [As they make their way back home] they face lots of hardships from al-Shabaab, the worst of which is terrorising passengers by shooting live bullets to make the driver stop the vehicle faster," he told Sabahi.

Amina Hussein, a 32-year-old mother of two, said she was travelling from the Dabaab refugee camp complex to Mogadishu on July 15th when she and about 60 other passengers on two buses ran into an al-Shabaab roadblock along a remote stretch.

"The two vehicles in which we were travelling were stopped by armed hooded men when we approached Buale town. They ordered each and every one of us to disembark with our luggage from the vehicles," she said.

"I, my husband and my two children came down with our bags of clothes at once. They took all the men who were with us to a distant place where we could not see them," Hussein told Sabahi. "[The men] came back to us with bruises on their bodies, indicating the way they were beaten while being held for almost five hours."

The militants also rounded up the 15 women who were on the buses and all of their children and ordered them into a tent they had set up, Hussein said.

"An al-Shabaab militant came in [to the tent] and ordered us to change the clothes we were wearing. He said they were not allowed by the religion of Islam and he gave us large burkas," she said, adding that they were given privacy for changing.

"They later forced us to burn our belongings and they beat us with their guns when I and a number of other women tried to resist their orders," she said. "They told us the clothes and the property we had were not allowed by the religion. When we argued with them, we were forced to burn them."

"When I remember the way they behaved with us, I can say al-Shabaab's actions are far from the faith they claim to uphold," said Hussein, who arrived in Mogadishu after a four-day journey. "If I had known I was going face this harassment during my journey, I would not have tried [to come], but I thank God that I reached Mogadishu with my husband and children in good health."
Al-Shabaab attacks could jeopardise return of refugees

The reports of roadside holdups come as Kenya is gearing up to repatriate 600,000 refugees -- many of them of Somali origin -- in 2014.

In June, Kenya and Somalia agreed to a deal for voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees.

Kenyan Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia said that Somali refugees would be a top priority for repatriation, and that Kenyan soldiers deployed as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia would stay there to help safeguard the refugees' return. "We have to stabilise Somalia first so that the refugees can go home," he said.

However, recent reports of insecurity on the highways in south-western Somalia are causing many Somalis who still live in the Dadaab camps to delay their repatriation plans, said Ahmed Ali, 42, who returned to Mogadishu in June after spending 20 years in Dadaab.

"Many of my relatives who wanted to leave Dadaab have postponed their journey after I told them what people are undergoing during their trip because of al-Shabaab," he said.

"I had my right hand broken in Barawe by al-Shabaab in June when I was travelling, after they tried to burn my belongings," Ali told Sabahi.

He said al-Shabaab is creating chaos and instability in Somalia to discourage those who would likely support the government from returning.

"This is basically why they cause all these problems," he said. "I would like to urge the government of Somalia and the international community to come up with plans to help Somali refugees return safely back to their country."

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