How does the great number of Somalis in Kenya influence Kenyan politics and policy?
Kenya hosts over 550 000 officially registered refugees, with only six countries in the world surpassing that according to the UN. While Western states talk of lack of capacity to handle their refugee influx, the Kenyan numbers have been consistently high. Why is there no talk of a refugee “crisis” leading up to the Kenyan elections in august?
A large proportion of refugees in Kenya are Somali. However, being a Somali in Kenya can mean much more than that you are a refugee. The North Eastern Province is inhabited by approximately two million ethnic Somalis that are Kenyan citizens, and Eastleigh in Nairobi is often called Little Mogadishu for its Somali influence.
However terrorism has struck Kenya on several occasions, notably in Nairobi and Garissa. This has given way for operations like Operation Ussalama, which targeted Somalis in discriminatory ways. Has the fear of al Shabaab in Kenya resulted in a worseing of the treatment of Somalis in Kenya? The world's biggest refugee camp, Dadaab, provides shelter from war, but should the camp be closed, it would mean that refugees would be forcefully repatriated to Somalia.
The political fights between president Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga might not be centered around the status of Somalis in Kenya, but how has the ethnic group been treated?
In the panel:
Andrew Ratanya Mukaria, Human Rights Advocate and Doctoral Student in Eco-Theology at Det teologiske menighetsfakultetet.
Umar Mohamed Affey, journalist and master in International Relations with focus on Somalia.
The panel is lead by Lina Tordsson
Welcome to Afrika Nå, Fellesrådet for Afrika's monthly seminar on African contemporary topics.
