No closure of Dadaab refugee camp, rules court

In a ruling delivered by Justice John Mativo, the court indicated that the directive issued by Interior Cabinet Secretary, Major Gen. (Rtd.) Joseph Nkaissery, on the intended repatriation of refugees and asylum seekers of Somali origin on May 10, 2016 violates the Constitution and the International legal obligations adding that Nkaiserry and his Principal Secretary, Karanja Kibicho, acted in excess powers in announcing the closure of the camp.

“A declaration that the decision of the government of Kenya to collectively repatriate all refugees in Dadaab Refugee Complex to the frontiers of their country of origin against their will violate the principle on international convention as expressed in Article 33 of the 1951 UN convention relating to the status of refugees as well as Section 18 of the Refugee Act 2006,” the court ruled.

The court further ruled that the decision specifically targeting Somali refugees is an act of group persecution, illegal, discriminatory and, therefore, unconstitutional.

In the case, Kituo Cha Sheria, Legal Advice Centre and Amnesty International sued CS Nkaissery seeking to stop the directive to close the world’s largest refugee camp, Daadab.