The High Court has stopped the closure of Dadaab refugee camp saying Interior ministry officials acted in excess of their powers.
Justice John Mativo said on Thursday that the directive by CS Interior Joseph Nkaissery and PS Karanja Kibicho was arbitrary, null and void.
Mativo also ruled that the decision by the government to collectively repatriate all refugees was wrong.
He said there was no evidence of the people's involvement in crime, or a single arrest or conviction that has been sighted as proof of risk at the camp, or the presence of al Shabaab members.
Mativo said it was wrong to issue a blanket condemnation punishing all refugees.
"The government violated the law. Its decision ought to be examined. It was a drastic measure [that should have been taken] within the confines of the law," he said.
He directed the state to restore status in regard to administration of refugee affairs.
On May 6 2016, Kibicho issued a directive by way of a press release entitled “Government Statement on Refugees and closure of camps”.
It stated that Kenya could no longer host refugees due to national security concerns.
Kenya said the refugees world's largest refugee camp world's largest refugee camp at it harboured terrorists.
Kakuma and Dadaab about 400,000 people; Daadab alone has about 340,000 refugees while Kakuma had more than 55,000 in UNHCR data released in September 2015.
Read: Refugees must go, Kenya says
Also read:Decision to close Dadaab refugee camp final, Ruto tells UN summit
Some of the refugees had already been taken back to Somalia but Kenya missed the November 30, 2016 deadline it had set for Dadaab's closure. This was pushed by six months to May this year.
Read more: Kenya to miss November deadline to close Dadaab refugee camp
The ruling means the government will now have to put in place mechanisms that will restore regular operations at the camp.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment