Times Change for Somali Refugees in Kenya

By Philip Emase

NAIROBI, Kenya

For nearly 20 years now, Kenya has been the immediate destination of choice for many Somali refugees fleeing the unceasing civil war that has ravaged their country since 1991.Three refugee camps shelter over 260,000 Somali refugees near Dadaab town in north-eastern Kenya, form the world’s largest refugee settlement. 

The lucky ones among these refugees move inland to settle or to seek asylum elsewhere. Kenya’s Refugee law allows them to work in the country, but more importantly, Kenya has its own indigenous Somali population of about 200, 000 and xenophobic attacks are unheard off.

The situation however seems to be changing. In mid January this year, over 2,000 Somalis were arrested after hundreds of Muslim youths – most of them ethnic Somalis – rioted in Nairobi while protesting a against a government plan to deport a radical Muslim cleric.

Kenya was trying to deport the cleric, Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal, because he was on a global terror watchlist and had been jailed in Britain for inciting the killing of Jews, Hindus and Westerners. Al-Faisal remained in custody for several weeks because no country was willing to allow him transit on his way back to his native Jamaica.

Most of the people arrested in the swoop were of Somali origin. In fact, the operation was so thorough that 16 legislators from Somalia also found themselves behind bars. The legislators were only released after their country lodged a formal protest.

Even though the Kenyan authorities claimed the operation was merely aimed at weeding out illegal immigrants, it appeared to be a rare opportunity to address various concerns that had festered over the years.

One such concern was the fear that militant elements from Somalia were increasingly seeping in through the boarders, camouflaged among genuine refugees and bringing with them the potential to upset the country’s social order, compromise national security and undermine the war against terrorism.

Kenya’s Internal Security Minister George Saitoti claimed the January 15 demonstration was organized by individuals linked to Al Shabaab, a notorious insurgent group bent on deposing Somalia’s secular government and replacing it with an Islamic one founded on Shariah law.

“Intelligence reports indicate that these individuals are sympathetic to Al-Shabaab,” Saitoti said.

Indeed, some of the protesters were seen waving Al Shabaab’s black flag. This was an unsettling sight in a country that lost over 200 people in 1998 when Al Qaeda bombed the US embassy in Nairobi. Al Shabaab has severally claimed a close relationship with Al Qaeda.

Although the Kenyan society remained tolerant even after the 1998 attack, the possibility religious tensions emerged during the recent demonstration. Members of the public, who seemed exasperated by the five hour disruption of business in downtown Nairobi, uncharacteristically joined the police and pelted the rioters with stones.

Another issue bothering the Kenyan authorities is the widespread suspicion that much of the ransom extorted by Somalia’s now infamous Indian Ocean pirates is laundered in Kenya.

As East Africa’s biggest economy, Kenya is certainly the most accessible investment and money laundering environment for the pirates. The country’s 800km northern border with Somalia is officially closed but has in reality remained porous to people from Somalia. The absence of a deliberate money laundering law makes it fairly easy for any pirate to transfer his million-dollar jackpot to collaborators in Kenya through an unregulated cash-transfer system known as hawala.

It is believed that most of the money laundering takes place in Eastleigh, a commercial and residential district in Nairobi that is almost exclusively dominated by ethnic Somalis.

Situated 5 km east of the Nairobi city centre, Eastleigh is ‘Little Mogadishu’ in all respects. Somali men with hennaed goatees line up in Islamic banks, the restaurants mainly serve Somali food and women bustle around in hijabs. Jobless youths huddle outside video halls that show pirated movies, chewing Khat (a narcotic) while chatting in either Somali or heavily accented Swahili.

Eastleigh has in recent years enjoyed a construction boom that is believed to be a direct result of massive investment by Somali pirates. Hotels, malls, arcades and apartment buildings are sprouting rapidly despite a generally poor infrastructure that would otherwise discourage investment.

The area’s roads are heavily potholed and often flooded due to faulty plumbing, forcing cars and flashy minibuses to weave around dangerously. Power outages are common, floating dust and piles of uncollected garbage give the area a grimy look, yet business is thriving and new buildings continue to adorn Eastleigh’s skyline.

The government’s attention was first roused when overall real estate prices rocketed contrary to industry projections. An investigation is currently underway to probe the alleged link between the construction boom and the pirate stick-ups that have made Somalia’s coast one of the world’s most dangerous.

‘Little Mogadishu’ is also believed to be a major entry point for small arms smuggled from Somalia and often ending up in the hands of Kenyan criminals.

Aside from these concerns, Kenya took the chance to express frustration with the international community’s reluctance to rescue Somalia. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told the visiting US Assistant Secretary of Defence, Alexander Vershbow, that it was impossible to neutralize the twin threats of piracy and terrorism in the region without first stabilizing Somalia.

The US considers Kenya a key regional ally in the fight against terrorism, and is equally wary of the activities of Al Shabaab. Perhaps the message Odinga was mildly passing to the members of the international community was that Somalia was sinking deeper into state failure due to their inaction.

In effect, Somalia’s UN-backed interim government has been whittled down into a nominal authority by a sustained onslaught by insurgent groups led by Al Shabaab. It currently controls mere pockets of territory around Mogadishu with the feeble backing of a small, ill-equipped African Union mission.

On the other hand, Al Shabaab has gained control of large parts of Southern Somalia, yet the UN has declined to deploy peacekeepers in Somalia despite repeated appeals from interim president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.