Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa County. It is suspected to be a breeding ground for terrorists. AFP PHOTO
Twenty days
after the terrorist attack at Nairobi’s DusitD2 complex, intelligence
sources say that 12 suspects have been arrested at the sprawling Dadaab
refugee camp — signalling the complex balance between internal security
and offering humanitarian aid at the third largest refugee camp in the
world.
Sources privy to the ongoing investigations told
Nation that one of the Dusit complex attackers
passed through Dagahaley camp “where he was not only facilitated to get into communication with other attackers, but also given transportation logistics to Nairobi”.
passed through Dagahaley camp “where he was not only facilitated to get into communication with other attackers, but also given transportation logistics to Nairobi”.
The
highly-placed source said that three suspected Al-Shabaab terrorists
armed with AK-47 rifles and several rounds of ammunition were also
arrested last week in Hagadera refugee camp in Dadaab.
“One
of the suspects was found with two New Zealand passports bearing
different names,” said the source — an indicator that Al-Shabaab
networks are more widespread than earlier thought.
CLOSURE
The
arrest come at a time when a US spy agency in its January 29 report
said that Al-Shabaab is likely to continue posing threats to the nations
of East Africa in the coming years — with security agents fearing that
Dadaab continues to be a soft-landing for terrorists.
Although
President Uhuru Kenyatta had in March 2017 ordered the closure of
Dadaab camp in the wake of the Garissa University College attack in
April 2015 and the Westgate shopping mall raid on September 21, 2013, he
was heavily criticised by human rights organisations.
Amnesty
International said “by offering no options other than return to
Somalia, the (Jubilee) government (was) effectively forcing refugees to
leave Kenya”.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja
Kibicho has then described Dadaab refugee complex as a “breeding ground
for terrorists”, with President Kenyatta asking the UNHCR to relocate
the camps which share the border with Somalia.
SECURITY
But
the government’s bid to close down the camps was stopped by the High
Court after Justice John Mativo ruled that then Interior Cabinet
Secretary — the late Joseph Nkaissery — and PS Karanja Kibicho, had
acted beyond their powers in issuing the directive to close down the
camp.
The court also declared the repatriation of refugees unconstitutional and described the targeting of Somalis as discriminative.
“We shall obey the court order, but we shall not compromise on national security,” Dr Kibicho told the Nation after the ruling.
It
is estimated that by the end of 2018, the population of Somali refugees
and asylum seekers in the complex was 235,269 scattered in four camps-
Dagahaley, IFO, IFO 2 and Hagadera.
Although in
November 2013 Kenya and Somalia signed a tripartite agreement with the
UNHCR to guide the voluntary repatriation of refugees, the latest
figures indicate only 80,144 refugees have been repatriated to Somalia
on a voluntary basis since December 2014, and that there had been a
decrease in voluntary returns in 2018.
SUSPECTS
An
internal briefing seen by the Nation now describes Dadaab as “a thorn
in the flesh” for Kenya due to “insecurity incidences related to
terrorism, human trafficking and arms smuggling”.
The
report notes that on January 24 at Dagahaley, police gunned down a
suspected terrorist and recovered an AK-47 rifle, five magazines and 26
rounds of ammunition.
Also on January 20, eight hooded
gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles had attempted to attack a Chinese road
construction site before escaping.
“We believe that
these attackers escaped into the camps and this points to the challenges
arising from continued hosting of refugees in Dadaab complex,” the
source said.
“The camps are also a conducive
environment for arms smuggling from Somalia, human smuggling, documents
facilitation and movement of contraband goods, which are exploited by
terrorists to sustain their activities,” the source added.
MANHUNT
With
the accelerated crackdown on Al-Shabaab operatives in Somalia,
intelligence sources believe that the Dadaab camps have become the safe
haven for escaping terrorists.
“There is an influx of
aliens to the refugee camps running away from security operations in
Somalia, some of whom could be Al-Shabab operatives disguised as asylum
seekers,” the source said.
“We believe that the refugee
camps are still being used as logistical, transit, and facilitation
centres for Al-Shabaab operatives.”
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