Treasury seeks Sh477m in bid to cut number of immigrants
Refugees queue for food rations at the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya. Repatriation of refugees will be stepped up this year after the Treasury sought parliamentary approval to withdraw Sh477 million to reduce the number of immigrants by 75 per cent amid security concerns. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The cash request is contained in a mini-budget submitted to Parliament in which the government is seeking approval to spend an extra Sh57 billion.
The United Nations demands that repatriation of refugees should be strictly voluntary.
Kenya hosts about 450,000 refugees in the Dadaab complex in the north eastern region, mostly Somali nationals who have fled conflict and recurrent drought in their country. The Kakuma camp in Turkana holds 100,000 people.
Repatriation of refugees will be stepped up this year after the Treasury sought parliamentary approval to withdraw Sh477 million to reduce the number of immigrants by 75 per cent amid security concerns.
The recently enacted Security Laws (Amendment) Act 2014 sets a ceiling of 150,000 refugees and the cash request is the first step in cutting the immigrant population that currently stands at 600,000 in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps.
“The number of refugees or asylum seekers permitted to stay in Kenya shall not exceed 150,000. The National Assembly may vary the number,” the Act says.
The cash request is contained in a mini-budget submitted to Parliament in which the government is seeking approval to spend an extra Sh57 billion.
The United Nations demands that repatriation of refugees should be strictly voluntary. Kenya hosts about 450,000 refugees in the Dadaab complex in the north eastern region, mostly Somali nationals who have fled conflict and recurrent drought in their country. The Kakuma camp in Turkana holds 100,000 people.
Pilot project
Refugees from South Sudan flocked into Kakuma in large numbers after conflict flared up in the world’s youngest country in December last year.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Amina Mohamed previously said that ceiling on refugee numbers is based on ability to accommodate the immigrants and was not a policy to refuse them entry.
Ninety-four individuals were repatriated earlier this month in a pilot project carried out by United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organisation for Migration in what sets the pace for larger numbers to go back to Somalia.
The pilot repatriation was meant to help identify the challenges of conducting such a programme. The returning families will be given food rations for three months, non-food items and a start-up grant, signalling the huge cash outlay required for the exercise.
Kenya last year signed a tripartite agreement with Somalia and the UNHCR for voluntary repatriation of refugees.
“The main challenge is that the majority of refugees in Kenya are from south and central Somalia. The volatile situation in these parts of the country has hindered the refugees from considering a return home,” UNHCR-Kenya spokesman Emmanuel Nyabera told the media in September.
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