Court Suspends Kenyan Government’s Plan To Shut World’s Largest Refugee Camp

The world’s biggest refugee camp was on the verge of closing but Kenyan High Court has interfered and halted the government plan and repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Somalis.

The High Court suspended Thursday the Kenyan government’s plan to shut down Dadaab. However, the government has the right to appeal the decision.

Kenya wanted last year to close down Dadaab, the refugee camp that houses 300,000 Somalis who have been there due to a civil war and violent Islamic insurgency in Somalia.

High Court Judge John Mativo said the decision of Kenyan government specifically targets the Somali refugees and this is something unconstitutional.

The judge added closure also violates the country’s obligations under international law.

Meanwhile, the problems of Somali refugees have been lately intensified after United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning entry of refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries including Somalia.

In 2016 the US accepted 11,000 Somali refugees. The number is too little compared to 1 million Somalis refugees in Kenya and other East African countries.

Somalia is under inter-clan conflict for past 25 years and swaths of the country are currently being controlled by Islamic militant group al-Shabaab. The economy of the country has decimated too.

Prolonged drought too has made living challenging and UN record reveals about six million people in the country are on the verge of famine.