Kenyan government to appeal court ruling blocking it from closing Dadaab refugee camp
Kenya’s government has said that it will appeal the high court’s decision to stop it from closing the Dadaab refugee camp.
“The closure of Dadaab camp has always drawn varying interest and opinions, both nationally and internationally. For us as government, Kenya will always come first. The lives of Kenyans matter….It is for this reason that we shall be strongly appealing the decision by the High Court,” said Government spokesperson Eric Kiraithe
Kiraithe further said that the decision by the government to shut down the refugee camp was made after realizing that the camp had lost its humanitarian purpose and was “launch pad for various terrorist attacks by Al-Shabaab”
The High Court Judge John Mativo ruled on Thursday that Kenyan Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery and Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho acted beyond their powers in issuing the directive to close down the world’s largest camp.
The judge in his decision also reproached the repatriation of refugees as unconstitutional and discriminative, and ordered the government to adopt mechanisms that would ensure the department for refugees is functioning properly.
The government spokesperson said that Kenya was repatriating refugees in collaboration with the government of Somalia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
