The Kenyan authorities have given the UN refugee agency a 14-day ultimatum to close one of the world’s largest refugee camp, local newspaper Daily Nation reports quoting officials.
The government has threatened to forcibly repatriate Somali refugees living at Dadaab camp to the border if the deadline elapses, the newspaper reports.
It also wants UNHCR to shut down the Kakuma camp in the north-west.
Kenya is citing national security threats posed by some of the refugees that it says are linked to the Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab.
The directive to shut down the two camps was communicated to UNHCR representative in Kenya, Fathiaa Abdalla, the paper reports.
“We must strike a balance between Kenya’s international obligations and her domestic duty. We do have a domestic responsibility to protect Kenyans,” Interior Minister Fred Matiangi is quoted as saying.
In 2017 a High Court judge blocked a similar bid to close the camp, ruling that it was tantamount to an act of group persecution.
Dadaab was set up in 1991 to house families fleeing conflict in Somalia, and some people have been living there for more than 20 years.
-BBC
