Human Rights Watch has released a new report with evidence that the Kenyan government is failing its obligations to Somali refugees (and, almost certainly, Kenyans of Somali origin) resident in Kenya.  From the summary: 

...Kenya has the right to regulate the presence of non-nationals in its territory and may, therefore, prevent certain people from entering or remaining in Kenya, including those deemed a threat to its national interests. However, international and Kenyan law obliges Kenya to allow all people claiming to be refugees ("asylum seekers") access to Kenyan territory to seek asylum with the Kenyan authorities or with UNHCR, and every asylum seeker has a right to have his or her case considered.

Since the border closure, the Kenyan authorities have deported hundreds, possibly thousands, of Somali refugees and asylum seekers, thereby violating the most fundamental part of refugee law, the right not to be refouled-forcible return to a place where a person faces a threat to life or freedom on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Under its obligations in the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problems in Africa (1969 OAU Convention), Kenya is also bound not to send refugees or asylum seekers back to situations of generalized violence, such as in Somalia. 

Further, the enforcement of the Kenyan policy of confining Somali refugees to camps is crude and counterproductive, not least because we meet our old friend police impunity here too:

Kenya has never officially adopted a policy requiring Somali (or other) refugees to stay in camps. However, in practice Kenya and UNHCR have used a number of disincentives to limit the number of refugees choosing to live or move outside of camps. The first disincentive is the shared policy of the Kenyan government and UNHCR that refugees cannot receive humanitarian assistance outside of camps.

The second disincentive-which violates refugees' right to freedom of movement in Kenya- is the government's policy restricting officially sanctioned movement between the camps and other parts of Kenya. Once registered in Dadaab's camps, refugees are not permitted to travel unless they fulfil one or more unpublished criteria for obtaining a "movement pass" co-signed by the Kenyan authorities and UNHCR. If the police stop a refugee registered in the camps travelling without a movement pass, the refugee risks being arrested and fined, and, in practice, even worse (detention and refoulement).

The third disincentive for Somalis to live outside the camps has been UNHCR's lengthy refugee status determination procedures in Nairobi, compared to swift procedures in Dadaab's camps. In early 2009, Somalis still waited up to nine months to have their status determined, leaving them vulnerable to police abuses in the interim. In March 2009, UNHCR said it was seeking to cut the average time to two months.

Kenya has legitimate security concerns and a right to control its border, but closing the border to asylum seekers and the refoulement (unlawful forced return) of Somali asylum seekers and refugees violates Kenya's fundamental obligations under international and national refugee law. Kenya should immediately cease refoulement and take steps to ensure that refugees have access to assistance and protection in Kenya. To this end, Kenyan authorities should invite UNHCR to re-open its refugee transit center in Liboi and ensure that its police guarantee all Somali asylum seekers free movement to Dadaab's camps or to Nairobi - where UNHCR or the Kenyan authorities can register them as refugees.

Kenya should urgently take steps to end the impunity with which abusive police officers operate in the border areas, in and near Dadaab's camps, and between Dadaab and Nairobi. 

You can and should read the whole of Horror to Hopelessness at the HRW website.

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