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Court: Kenya Must Not Close Refugee Camp

by VOA News

   NAIROBI, KENYA --

   Kenya's high court announced Thursday the government should not close
   Dadaab refugee camp, saying the decision to do so was unconstitutional.

   The threat of closure had been lingering since May 2016, when the
   government announced it would be sending Somali refugees back to
   Somalia by the end of November 2016 and disbanding the Department of
   Refugee Affairs. Kenya said the move was because of security threats.

   Kenyan high court justice JM Mativo ruled Thursday that the
   government's orders were discriminatory and amounted to collective
   punishment.

   Dadaab is the world's largest refugee camp, sheltering about 300,000
   people, the majority of whom are Somali.

   Locator map of Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya.

   The challenge against the government's decision to close both Dadaab
   and the Department of Refugee Affairs came in a petition filed by two
   Kenyan human rights organizations.

   The Kenyan government did not immediately respond to the ruling.

   Amnesty International praised the court's decision, saying it
   "reaffirms Kenya's constitutional and international legal obligation"
   to protect those who seek safety from persecution.

   Human Rights Watch said the court sent a message that it is one
   institution in Kenya willing to uphold refugee rights.

   "After months of anxiety because of the camp closure deadline hanging
   over their heads, increasingly restricted asylum options and the recent
   U.S. administration suspension of refugee resettlement, the court's
   judgment offers Somali refugees a hope that they may still have a
   choice other than returning to insecure and drought-ridden Somalia,"
   HRW Africa researcher Laetitia Bader said.