Kenyan police nab 11 aliens along border with Somalia

Monday Febaury 17, 2014

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GARISSA, Kenya, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police said Monday they are holding 11 aliens who were arrested the previous day along the northern border with Somalia.

Regional CID Commander Musa Yego said the foreigners were arrested along Alango Arba on their way to Garissa aboard a Nairobi-Liboi bound bus, where officers intercepted the vehicle even before it reached the police post at Midikare, 8 km from Garissa town.

"We will know whether these identification documents (IDs) are genuine and whether the rightful owners of them are aware, and if they have been given out for these purposes then we are going to get the culprits and charge them in court," Yego told journalists in Garissa.

The regional CID commander said among the suspects arrested were four miners aged between 13 to 17 years.

Yego said they have realized that foreigners are now changing tack after massive operation by the security officials found that the suspects are using someone's identification cards or faking one.

He said further scrutiny of the IDs has revealed many people are using other people's IDs to evade police dragnet.

The CID boss who was flanked by the county commissioner Rashid Khator thanked members of the public who volunteered information to the police adding their continuous cooperation is bearing fruit to ensure Garissa is safe.

Yego further said that they would seek to establish why the miners were travelling unaccompanied. Yego said that everyone has a responsibility to play in ensuring that the county remains peaceful.

Garissa County has been the target by Al-Shabaab militia since Kenya troops crossed the border to war ravaged neighboring Somalia. Several attacks have been staged in Kenya.

According to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), up to 20,000 Somali and Ethiopian immigrants are smuggled into Kenya annually with South Africa as their final destination.

The aliens who always sneak from the refugee camps located 100 km from Garissa town have on several occasions been blamed for the killings that rocked the town a few months ago.

They have also been blamed for the attacks that have occurred in other towns in the country.

The Kenyan authorities have blamed the vastness of the region for the runaway influx of foreigners in to Kenya through Moyale on Kenya-Ethiopia borders.

Refugee rights organizations and aid agencies have blamed poverty in Africa for the rising cases of human trafficking.

They said that the huge supply of labor both skilled and unskilled makes them vulnerable to criminal syndicates.

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