In some interesting news happening in the humanitarian world,The Government of Kenya has kept its intentions to shut down Daadab Refugee camp as a top secret up to now, when these plans have been finalized and the world’s largest refugee camp will be closed down in six months time.
According to an internal document by the UN,Kenya had sent a norte verbale informing the international organization of the finalized ”plans to close Daadab camps within a six month period”.
The camp has existed for almost 30 years and has been a safe haven for refugees from war torn Eastern Africa countries,such as Somalia,South Sudan and a number of Ethiopians.
The government also instructed the UNHCR to hasten the relocation of the refugees and asylum seekers residing the camps.The UNHCR on the other hand is cooperating with the national government and has pledged its commitment to collaborating with the government on voluntary repatriation to countries of origin,as well as relocating refugees to other parts of Kenya.
Amnesty International said it had documented government officials threatening refugees and telling them they had to leave, “raising serious questions about whether returns were voluntary.”
Kenyan government has put the camp on the spot for years and suspected it to be one of the entry points radicalized Somalis use to get in the country and carry out surprise attacks on the Kenyan public.
It still remains unknown why the government has kept this program a secret until now.