Refugees need urgent solutions as Kenyan camps set to close

As the deadline to close refugee camps in Kenya draws near, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have called on the government and international partners to find a sustainable solution for the refugees.

In a report released on Monday, the organization said approximately 232,903 refugees in Dadaab camps, located in northeastern Kenya, face the prospect of either going back to a country where insecurity remains widespread or remain in Kenya illegally without adequate protection.

Titled "In search of dignity: Refugees in Kenya face a reckoning", the report urged Kenya and its international partners to live up to the commitments made in the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees by allowing Somali refugees to integrate into Kenyan society or be resettled abroad instead of being forced back to Somalia.

"The planned closure of the camps in June 2022 should be an opportunity to accelerate the process of finding lasting solutions for refugees," said Dana Krause, the head of mission in Kenya at MSF. "At present, the mostly Somali refugees in Dadaab—many of whom have been trapped in the camps for three decades—face dwindling humanitarian assistance and limited options for leading safe and dignified lives."

Humanitarian assistance has plummeted after the announcement to close the camps, with the World Food Program warning in September it may be forced to stop distributing food rations altogether by the end of this year if they don't secure more funding.

"What we fear most is that closing the camps without offering solutions to refugees could result in a humanitarian disaster," said Jeroen Matthys, the MSF project coordinator in Dagahaley, one of the three camps that make up Dadaab. "It is vital that refugees have uninterrupted access to humanitarian assistance throughout the camp closure process and until they have certainty about their future and can become self-reliant."

With the passing of the Refugee Bill, the report recommends Kenya accelerate efforts to integrate refugees in the country, while donor countries must ensure humanitarian assistance is maintained to support refugees' transition from camps.

Additionally, more countries should come forward to pledge resettlement places and other complementary pathways at the upcoming high-level officials' meeting convened by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

"Kenya should adopt a phased approach, first relaxing constraints on refugees' ability to move and work so they can achieve a degree of self-sustenance before closing the camps. This will also give humanitarian agencies time to develop transition strategies," the report said.

The MSF said the situation in Somalia has worsened over the years, adding the country faces a deadly cascade of emergencies where erratic cycles of droughts, floods and disease are taking a toll on people who barely have time to recover from one crisis before another hits.

As a result, internal displacement has risen considerably in the last two years, with almost three million people having been displaced at the end of 2020, of whom 815,000 sought refuge outside the country.

By July this year, some 66 percent of the over 500,000 newly displaced people had fled their homes because of insecurity.

Of all refugees in Dadaab, 54 percent are below 18 years old, and have never known Somalia.

Also to be closed is Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya's northwestern region. The camp hosts almost 200,000 refugees from South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Ethiopia and Uganda.

Kenya first announced plans to close Dadaab camp in 2016, arguing it was a source of insecurity. The closure was blocked by the court, saying it was not safe for refugees to return to Somalia.