Kenya plans cut in refugees to boost war on terrorism
Women queue for food rations at Daadab Refugee Camp. The proposed law to limit the number of refugees has been faulted for rolling back freedom. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
Under the changes contained in the Security Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014, Kenya will limit the number of refugees and asylum seekers.
The proposal is likely to attract strong opposition from human rights agencies as new conflicts in countries like South Sudan and Somalia continue to displace thousands.
Kenya plans to reduce the number of refugees and asylum seekers by nearly three quarters in a raft of security measures aimed at sealing loopholes that terrorists have exploited to enter the country.
Under the changes contained in the Security Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014, Kenya will limit the number of refugees and asylum seekers.
“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 Bill, fronted by the Parliamentary Committee on Administration and National Security, proposes.
The proposal is likely to attract strong opposition from human rights agencies as new conflicts in countries like South Sudan and Somalia continue to displace thousands.
Data by United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) shows that the number of refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya stood at 534,938 and 52,285 respectively by January.
They were mostly hosted in Daadab in Garissa and Kakuma in Turkana. If enacted, the law will put brakes on an unchecked influx of the displaced amid fears that Al-Shabaab militants have posed as refugees to sneak into Kenya.
Mandatory profiling
The Bill also seeks to establish mandatory profiling of tenants by landlords and sets tough rules for issuing work permits to investors. This follows previous reports that terrorists have been able to rent flats from where they planned attacks.
Fugitive terrorist Samantha Lewthwaite, for instance, is believed to have stayed in Nairobi and Mombasa while planning the Westgate mall attack.
“The Bill seeks to amend the Rent Restrictions Act to make provision for the maintenance of records of tenants by landlords,” the committee’s chairman, Asman Kamama, says in a House document.
Sections of the proposed law have been faulted for attempting to roll back citizens’ freedoms as enshrined in the Constitution.
If passed as currently published, the freedom of expression, the right to privacy and freedom of the media will also be severely curtailed.
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