The relations between Kenya and Somalia have deteriorated since 2019 over several issues. One aspect of the tense ties is the situation of Somali refugees in Kenya, who have sought refuge in the Dadaab refugee camp along the Kenya-Somali border since 1991…
Recently, Kenya’s Interior Minister Fred Matiangi issued the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) a 14-day ultimatum to set “a roadmap on definite closure of the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps,” warning that there will be “no room for further negotiations”, Kenya’s announcement to shut down the facility comes amid the news of the imminent surrender of the fugitive militia leader and former Jubbaland’s security minister, Abdirashid Janan, to the forces of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS).
Kenya’s ultimatum to the UNHCR to close one of the largest refugee camps in the world is not the first. Kenyan leaders made similar calls in the past over various security reasons, citing the camp as being “a breeding ground for terrorists.”
The camp is one of the largest in the world hosting over 220,000 registered refugees who initially fled Somalia when civil war broke out in the Horn of African country following the ouster of former President Mohamed Siyad Barre.
