Friday, May 06, 2016
The government has disbanded the department of refugee affairs to pave way for the closure of Kakuma and Dadaab camps.
Kenya has continued to shoulder very "heavy economic, security and environmental burden" by hosting refugees, the Interior PS said,
"Due to Kenya's national security interest, the government has decided that hosting of refugees has to come to an end," Karanja Kibicho in a statement on Friday.
"The government acknowledges that this decision will have adverse effects on the lives of refugees but Kenya will no longer be hosting them."
Kibicho asked the international community to back the move.
"The international community must collectively take responsibility on humanitarian needs that will arise out of this action," he said.
Kenya had said it would repatriate all Somali refugees and close camps in the northern region.
Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery said in 2015 that refugee camps, particularly in the Dadaab complex, had become hiding places for terrorists and their agents.
But Kenya backtracked on plans to close down Dadaab after intense pressure from the international community.
Kenya has hosted more than a half a million refugees for more than two decades.
Nkaissery said more than 200,000 Southern Sudan nationals are living in the Kakuma camp.
So far, 4,214 Somali refugees have been repatriated under the UNHCR assisted programme.
Dadaab which is 80km from Somalia’s border, was set up by UN in 1991 for Somalis fleeing violence and famine in their home country.