UN Security Council urges Kenya not to evict refugees from a sprawling camp that is more than 300,000 Somali
Araweelo News Network
British Ambassador to the U.N. Matthew Rycroft, left, and Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, centre, Egypt’s ambassador to the U.N. and President of the United Nations Security Council and Sahle-Work Zewde, UN office Nairobi, gesture during a press conference at UN Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, May 20, 2016, after meeting with president of Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta. Members of the United Nations Security Council are visiting Kenya, which has been the scene of multiple attacks by al-Qaida-linked extremists allegedly based in neighboring Somalia. (AP Photo/Sayyid Abdul Azim) The Associated Press
The Security Council members met with President Uhuru Kenyatta in the capital, Nairobi, on Friday, Kenya’s presidency said in a statement.
Kenya has been the scene of multiple attacks by al-Qaida-linked extremists based in neighboring Somalia.
Kenya announced this month that it would close the refugee camp known as Dadaab, which is often referred to as the world’s largest, amid allegations that some violent attacks on Kenya have been planned there.
The decision has been condemned by domestic and international rights groups and the U.N. has urged Kenya to reconsider.
“From the UK perspective it is important that Kenya abides by its international obligations,” Matthew Rycroft, the UK ambassador to the U.N., told reporters in Nairobi. “The president has committed to do that. There cannot be forcible return of refugees.”
Dadaab, with an estimated 328,000 refugees who are mostly Somali, compromises Kenya’s security because it harbors some al-Shabab Islamic extremists and is a conduit for smuggling weapons, Joseph Nkaissery, Kenyan secretary for the interior, said last week.
The Security Council members were in Somalia Thursday to support the country’s efforts to hold presidential elections amid deadly violence orchestrated by al-Shabab, which is fighting to rule Somalia according to a strict version of Islam.
The Somali government depends on donor aid to keep running, and on African Union forces, including from Kenya, to keep the al-Shabab fighters at bay.
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