President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Somali counterpart President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud have failed to agree on the impending closure of the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya’s North Eastern region. The two heads of state held a marathon meeting of more than three hours at the Nairobi State House in a bid to strike a way forward.
In a statement, PSCU said that two presidents discussed many issues including the ‘decision to close the Dadaab Refugee Camp, trade issues including rules affecting aviation between Kenya and Somalia, and cooperation on security.’
However, State House remained silent on whether the two states reached any agreement on the thorny issue with Kenya insisting that it will close the refugee camp as it is a threat to the national security. Recently, Deputy President William Ruto told the World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul, Turkey that it will proceed with its plan to shut down the camp that has continued to harbour Al-Shabaab militants as well as give them a training ground, something that compromises the war against extremism and terrorism.
Ruto told the Western nations willing to support the refugees to send their donations to Somalia as the government will not backtrack on its decision.
President Mohamud who became the first sitting-Somalia Head of state to visit the Dadaab refugee Camp said he was ready to receive his people. He, however, said that the repatriation process should be done on a voluntary basis. “Let me assure you (Somali refugees) that we (Kenya, Somalia, and the UNHCR) have never discussed and agreed on your quick return to an uncertain future,” he told an audience that included camp leaders.
The international community and humanitarian bodies have opposed the closure of the camp saying that refugees should not be forced back home.
UNHCR argues that refugees must be repatriated voluntarily and on condition that the basic amenities such as schools, clean water, proper sanitation, and security among others are well within reach. Despite these calls, the government went ahead to shut down the Department of Refugees which was under the Ministry of Interior saying that it was becoming expensive to run with an annual cost of over Ksh 1 billion.
The two leaders are expected to go for another round of negotiations Wednesday to try and resolve the refugee crisis.