Is Kenya bluffing over closure of world's largest refugee camp?
Analysts say closure is unlikely from a legal and logistical standpoint
Kenya’s plan to close the world’s largest refugee camp could be a bid to trigger more international aid as well as a “cynical” political move ahead of presidential elections, according to analysts and NGOs.
The sprawling Dadaab camp, located on the Kenya-Somalia border, hosts almost 350,000 refugees, the vast majority of whom are Somalis fleeing conflict.
The government announced on May 6 it would refuse new refugee arrivals and close down Dadaab, citing national security fears.
It would cause a huge humanitarian crisis, plus sending Somali refugees back would mean violating international conventions
But analysts say this is unlikely from a legal and logistical standpoint.
“I don’t think they will close the camp,” said Anne Hammerstad of the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent in England and an expert on refugee issues.
“It would cause a huge humanitarian crisis, plus sending Somali refugees back would mean violating international conventions.”
Kenya has already twice threatened to shut down Dadaab, and Britain’s UN ambassador Matthew Rycroft on Friday said Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta assured him that Nairobi would abide by its “international obligations.”