Kenya has already issued a notice to the United Nations over its decision to close the refugee camp by August. The camp located in north-eastern Kenya currently hosts a quarter million refugees.
“The government of Kenya courts a humanitarian disaster and international criticism if it intends to forcibly return hundreds of thousands of refugees to Somalia without proper consultation, planning and regard for their safety. These men, women and children have fled ongoing armed conflict in fear for their lives and suffered a raft of other human rights abuses,” said Amnesty International Kenya’s Executive Director Irungu Houghton.
Houghton warned that any decision to arbitrarily close the camp would also violate the February 2017 Kenyan High Court ruling that the closure of Dadaab in 2016 is un-constitutional and illegal under both national and international law.
“These plans must be shelved. The Kenyan government must seek genuine durable solutions for Somali refugees including integration into the Kenyan society and resettlement to third countries. The international community must support the Kenyan government to do this by availing financial and technical support and offering resettlement places to the most vulnerable refugees,” he added in a statement issued in Nairobi on Wednesday.
The Kenyan government has previously announced its intention to close Dadaab refugee camp arguably the largest such facility in Africa, allegedly to stem terrorist attacks in the country.
Most terrorism suspects’ roots have been traced to the Dadaap camp.