The Kenyan government has given the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, a 14-day ultimatum to close Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps.
Kenya's The Standard newspaper reported that Kenyan Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Wednesday issued the government directive to the UNHCR representative in Kenya Fathiaa Abdalla saying there is no room for further negotiations.
Dadaab Refugee camp is located in the semi-arid town of Garissa County and is one of the largest refugee camps in the world while Kakuma Refugee camp is located in the north-west region of Turkana county.
According to Kenya authorities, the closure of the camps has become necessary due to national security threats posed by some of the refugees whom they say are linked to the Somalia militant group al-Shabab.
“We must strike a balance between Kenya’s international obligations and her domestic duty. We do have a domestic responsibility to protect Kenyans,” Matiang'i said.
In a statement to Reuters, the refugee agency said, “UNHCR is aware of the renewed call by the Government of Kenya to close Dadaab and is working with the government to continue to implement long-term and sustainable solutions for over 210,000 refugees living in the camp."
“These include voluntary returns, third-country solutions such as resettlement, sponsorships, family reunifications and labor migration, as well as relocations in Kenya, including at Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei Settlement,” the statement read.
According to the United Nations, Dadaab was set up in 1991 to house families fleeing conflict in Somalia, and some people have been living there for more than 20 years.
In 2017, activists hailed a decision by Kenya’s high court to stop the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp saying it was not fair, discriminatory, and arbitrary.
In 2019, the Kenyan government said it would shut down the camp even as refugees continued to reject a voluntary repatriation program started in 2014.
Kakuma Refugee Camp on the other hand was established a year later, in 1992, and is jointly managed by the Kenyan Department of Refugee Affairs and UNHCR.
The camp is home to more than 194,000 refugees and asylum seekers housing at least 100,000 South Sudanese and 55,000 Somali refugees. Over 500 South Sudanese are seeking refuge in the Dadaab camp, according to recent figures by UNHCR.