Refugees at the Daadab Camp face imminent repatriations after the Kenyan government gave a directive for the closure of the camp.
Although a section of Kenyans and the international community have opposed the move, President Uhuru Kenyatta has stood his ground and urged other states to support Kenya on the same.
However, the opposition leader Raila Odinga has urged the government to stop the process and rethink the directive considering the security and welfare of the refugees in their new homes.
The sentiments by the Cord leader hold weight. This is because the repatriation process by the government has not considered the security and welfare of those being repatriated back to Somalia.
Food, shelter and water are basic needs that human beings require for survival. The government has not given a clear message regarding whether or not the refugees are being repatriated to a place with these requirements.
How do you take a fellow human being to a place where an animal can hardly survive? And has the government considered the security of the refugees? If Alshabab could enter such sheltered areas like Nairobi, what makes the government believe that returning the refugees back to Somalia will not have made them vulnerable to Alshabab to attacks or even recruitment by the group Kenya hopes to destroy?
In all fairness, in the spirit of humanity, and in the conscious understanding of issues that affect security, the government of Kenya must rethink its position and delay the whole process until these issues are addressed.