The Kenyan government Thursday rescheduled its planned closure of Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps to June next year, following discussion with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi met on Thursday in Nairobi and a joint team will be formed to finalize and implement a road map toward the closure of the camps, the U.N. and Kenyan government said in a joint statement on Thursday.
Under the new arrangement, at least 15,000 refugees will be let go every month; either to return to their homelands or be resettled elsewhere, giving refugees time to leave gradually rather than in masses.
Kenya's Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said the decision is the last considerate move by Kenya to stay within international law as well as protect its national security interests.
“We have been sheltering refugees for over 30 years, and our capacity to host them longer under minimum standards of humanitarian action has been overstretched,” Dr Kibicho said.
“The decision to close Dadaab and Kakuma camps by June 30, 2022, is in our country’s public interest.”
Authorities in Nairobi first announced their intention to shut the Dadaab camp back in 2016, citing national security concerns over infiltration by militants from the Somalia-based Islamist group al Shabaab.
On Tuesday, the High Court also suspended the plan and gave two orders; against the closure of the camps and the repatriation of the refugees, until July 7 when the cases will be mentioned for directions.
Dadaab predominantly has Somali refugees and hosts about 224,000 people. Kakuma hosts about 206,000 people, mainly from South Sudan.
The government has often accused some refugees of harboring terrorists, claims the UNHCR has fought.