More than half a million refugees at risk as Kenya looks to shut down refugee camps

More than half a million refugees are at risk as Kenya has announced its plans of closing down its refugee camps in Dadaab and Kakuma. A Christian humanitarian agency warns this could be a deadly move leading to thousands of deaths among the refugees.

The Kenyan government plans to repatriate the refugees to their original countries or resettle them to third-party countries sometime in November until May next year.

"People who already live on the edge of death will most certainly die if the world doesn't respond immediately to this pending crisis," warned Vernon Brewer, founding president of the U.S.-based World Help group. He recounted witnessing the sufferings the Somali refugees had to go through every day, but also acknowledged that the world's largest refugee camp must have borne considerable weight on the Kenyan government.

"We commend Kenya for all it has done till now with what has – at times – been dismal support from the international community. Perhaps Kenyan officials would not feel compelled to take such drastic action if the international community were to provide more support to humanitarian and security services?" Brewer suggested.

The government has already used the issue of closing down the refugee camps before in order to gain political advantage during elections. However, this time the Department of Refugee Affairs has already been dissolved and replaced by a task force assigned for the closure of Dadaab, which holds 350,000 refugees, making it the world's largest refugee camp.

Eleven non-governmental organizations working in Kenya have come together in a joint statement released Tuesday, May 10, urging the Kenyan government to reconsider its decision. The eleven signatories include the International Rescue Committee, World Vision, the Danish Refugee Council, Jesuit Refugee Service, Action Africa, Help International, the Lutheran World Federation, OXFAM, the Refugee Consortium of Kenya, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Heshima Kenya.

Mwenda Njoka from Ministry of the Interior told the Voice of America that the main reason behind the forthcoming closure is concerns over security. He recalled the terrorist attack made on Westgate Mall in September 2013 and shared that some of those responsible had links to Dadaab refugees. However, a senior refugee researcher for Human Rights Watch, Gerry Simpson, refutes the allegation saying there's "not a single shred of evidence" to support it.