UNHCR statement on the future of Kenya's Dadaab refugee camps
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Karin de Gruijl – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The Government of Kenya has announced that the Dadaab refugee camps should be closed within three months and the 350,000 Somali refugees living there returned to their country. The Government's decision was announced this past weekend following the horrific attack at Garissa University earlier this month.
UNHCR too has been shocked and appalled by the Garissa attack. High Commissioner António Guterres and his staff stand in solidarity with the people of Kenya. We reiterate our condolences to the families of all the victims.
Kenya has been generously hosting and protecting refugees from violence and persecution in neighbouring Somalia for more than two decades. UNHCR works closely with the Government of Kenya and we understand well the current regional security situation and the seriousness of the threats Kenya is facing. We also recognize the obligation of the Government to ensure the security of its citizens and other people living in Kenya, including refugees.
UNHCR is nevertheless concerned that abruptly closing the Dadaab camps and forcing refugees back to Somalia would have extreme humanitarian and practical consequences, and would be a breach of Kenya's international obligations.
We are thus urging the Kenyan authorities to give the matter further consideration. UNHCR stands ready to work even more closely with the Government of Kenya to strengthen law enforcement at Dadaab and support other measures to protect refugees and Kenyans alike against possible intrusion by armed actors from across the border.
In December 2014, a pilot scheme was launched to support people who seek to voluntarily repatriate to one of three relatively safe areas of Somalia, namely Luuq, Baidoa and Kismayo. We are ready to work with the Governments of Kenya and Somalia to step up this program where there are opportunities for voluntary repatriation. Nonetheless, for now UNHCR considers that large-scale returns are still not possible in many parts of the country, in particular to South Central Somalia.
UNHCR reiterates it continued commitment to supporting the Government of Kenya in its protection of Somali refugees going forward.
For further information on this topic:
- In Nairobi: Raouf Mazou,mobile +254 716 359 655
- In Nairobi: Emmanuel Nyabera,mobile +254 733 995 975
- In Geneva: Karin de Gruijl, mobile +41 79 255 9213
- In Geneva: Babar Baloch, mobile +41 79 557 9106
Related news and stories
Q&A with Mary Maker, UNHCR's newest Global Goodwill Ambassador
As the Horn of Africa drought enters a sixth failed rainy season, UNHCR calls for urgent assistance
Kenya's Dadaab camp swells with Somalis fleeing drought, conflict
Kenya's Dadaab camp swells with new wave of Somalis fleeing drought, hunger and conflict
UNHCR welcomes Kenya's decision to end statelessness for the Pemba people
Somalis flee drought and conflict to Kenya's Dadaab camps
Your search for « obligations » matched 4767 results. Only the first 1,000 results are displayed. Displaying page 25 of 112 pages.
-
Kenya/Sudan: Milestone tripartite agreement signed for return
13 Jan 2006 ... Together with Sudan and Kenya, UNHCR has signed a milestone tripartite agreement that sets out the roles and obligations of each side in helping South Sudanese refugees go home from Kenya, where they ...... -
UNHCR Annotated Comments on the EC Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on Minimum Standards for the Qualification and Status of Third Country Nationals or Stateless Persons as Refugees or as Persons Who Otherwise Need International Protection and the Content of the Protection granted (OJ L 304/12 of 30.9.2004)
28 Jan 2005 ... ... UNHCR Comment on Recital (6): Member States’ obligations under the 1951 Convention and international human rights instruments are binding obligations which should be considered as the framework for ...... -
UNHCR Tool Boxes on EU Asylum Matters: Tool Box 2: The Instruments - Part 4: Asylum
1 Sep 2003 ... ... and if so, how can this be avoided: perhaps through obligations to examine applications at various hierarchical levels (obligation to examine an application first of all on the basis of the ...... -
Iran alone cannot help new Iraqi refugees, Khatami tells Lubbers
5 Mar 2003 ... by its humanitarian obligations, but that it needed support in dealing with a possible influx of Iraqi refugees if war breaks out. "We are committed to our humanitarian obligations, but at the same ...... -
International Migration and Human Rights - Global Migration Group (Regional Conference on Refugee Protection and International Migration in West Africa)
14 Nov 2008 ... ... They are human beings with rights that States have an obligation to protect even when they exercise ... rights instruments are implemented and that migrants are aware of their rights and obligations. ...... -
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 15 (2002): The right to water (articles 11 and 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
20 Jan 2003 ... ... as well as water required to meet the core obligations of each of the Covenant rights. 6 Water and ... and the fulfilment of their reporting obligations, this General Comment focuses in Part II on ...... -
No Entry! A review of UNHCR's response to border closures in situations of mass refugee influx. Katy Long, June 2010
21 Jun 2010 ... ... The 2 obligation to offer asylum may thus directly conflict with a state‟s claim to sovereignty, ... tacitly accepting a state‟s decision to abrogate from its obligations under the 1951 Convention? ...... -
UNHCR comments on the Commission proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
17 Apr 2014 ... ... 28 July 1951 (“the Geneva Convention”); obligations related to access to international ... the Law of the Sea and other international obligations, including with regard to Frontex operations. ...... -
No. 34: Article 31 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Dr Cathryn Costello, July 2017
Jul 2017 ... ... State practice appears to depart from the obligations in Article 31. The aim of the paper is ... they seek to ‘avoid or to “divert” the obligation which cal data requested concerning: (a) The ......