Tuesday April 15, 2014
By A. Abdirahman (Banaadiri)
There
has been, and still is ongoing, an indiscriminate apprehension against Somalis,
including Kenyan-Somalis, in Nairobi. Kenyan authorities have failed to put an
end to systematic human rights violation against innocent Somalis, instead gives
the green light to its security forces to continue making unlawful mass arrests
until it eradicates what it has labelled as “terrorism.” Somalis, as well as Kenyan Somalis- those who
are ethnically Somali but Kenyan by birth- are experiencing securitization and
ethnic profiling. Kenyan authorities are acting on perpetuating the myth that
Somalis are a threat to Kenyan national security and must be removed from the
country.
It
seems that the Kenyan government has successfully sold this narrative to Kenyan
citizens and intends to convince the international community of the same. The failure
of the Kenyan government, international community, and to some extent the Somali
government, to protect innocent Somali people, especially refugees, will only
act as tinder to the seemingly dying flame; that is Al-Shabaab’s influence in
the region.
Securitization
Theory
For
Waever, “by labelling something a security issue that it becomes one”. In daily
political practices, it is by proclaiming an existence of a particular referent
object is threatened and it has to be protected from an existential threat that
it faces-‘by any means’.
In
order to label something a security issue, there has to be a securitizing actor,
who is able to take extraordinary measures to ensure the survival of the
referent object. For something to be seen as an existential threat it only
takes the securitizing authority to instil fear in its audience’s mind and make
a proclamation: “if we do not tackle
this problem everything else will be irrelevant” and our very existence is in
jeopardy. Given their influential position the authority take matters into
their own hands and employ extraordinary measures “swiftly and outside the
normal democratic rules and regulations”.
Kenya’s
recent mass arrests of Somalis demonstrate that it has acted ‘outside the
normal democratic rules and regulations’. The government alleges that ethnic
Somalis are an existential threat to the referent object, Kenyan national security. In the past few days, the security apparatus
has employed any means within its power and outside the legal frame work that
is in place in the Kenyan constitution, in the name of national security. Innocent
people are harassed, arrested, and detained; their money and personal property taken
in exchange for their freedom.
Securitization
and Ethnic Profiling of Somalis
According
to Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku, the government has “arrested
almost 4,000 people in this operation”. Among the detainees are Somali refugees,
Somali-Kenyans, those with legal residency, as well as ethnic Somalis with
foreign passports, mainly from Western countries. Pangani Police Station in
Eastleigh, known colloquially as “Little Mogadishu”, as well as other police
stations throughout Nairobi, has been filled with. Kasarani Sports Stadium,
also in Nairobi, has become a detention centre for people who are being
unlawfully detained, including women and children. Human Rights Watch has
reported that during the operation “there have been numerous credible accounts
of Kenyan security forces extorting money and beating people”.
In
an attempt to legitimise the government’s human rights violations, Lenku cited
recent grenade attacks, saying. "For
the last few months we've had heightened insecurity. Time has come for a mop up
to restore order". Instead of bringing the perpetrators of these
violent acts to justice, the security forces continue to scapegoat innocent
Somalis.
Recently,
a Kenyan senator, Abdi Bule from Tana River was a victim of such ethnic
profiling. The senator was stopped while driving through Eastleigh with his
family members. When he produced both his national ID card as well as another
showing that he was a senator, he was accused of carrying fake identification
documents and was detained.
Speak
out
The
world needs to speak out. The international community cannot continue to comply
with Kenya’s human rights violations. As a signatory of the 1951 Geneva Refugee
Convention, Kenya must be held responsible for its actions. Mistreating Somalis
will only benefit extremists; giving them a platform to recruit and radicalise
young people, including from Western countries.
Kenya’s
maltreatment of Somalis makes untenable its AMISOM membership, African troops
in Somalia, Rather than fighting terrorism, they are creating conditions to
create more terrorists.
By
failing to speak out against Kenya’s ethnic profiling strategies, the Somali
government is complicit. This tacit
complicity further isolates the government from winning the hearts and minds of
Somali people.
Finally,
foreign donors and UN agencies have a responsibility to strongly and publicly
oppose Kenya’s securitization and ethnic profiling of Somalis.
The author is a political and security analyst and
he can be reached at [email protected].
Twitter: @Banaadiri