Government bows to international pressure and agrees to six-month delay in shutting the world’s largest refugee complex, home to 300,000 SomalisKenya’s government said on Wednesday it had agreed to delay the closure of a Somali refugee camp that it sees as a security risk, after international pressure to give residents more time to find new homes.
Nairobi had vowed to shut Dadaab camp this month, saying it was being used by Islamist militants from neighbouring Somalia who have launched a string of attacks on Kenyan soil.But rights groups criticised the decision over the camp, saying it would hurt Somalis fleeing violence and poverty, and accused Nairobi of forcibly sending people back to a war zone. The government dismisses that allegation.
“The government has accepted the request to extend the deadline for the completion of repatriation of Somali refugees, and this is essential to the closure of the Dadaab refugee complex, [in] six months,” said interior minister Joseph Ole Nkaissery.
“However, the ongoing voluntary repatriation will continue uninterrupted,” he said.
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