Kenya debates building border fence, closing Somali refugee camp

NAIROBI, Kenya—One of the terrorists who attacked Garissa University College last week, killing 148 people and injuring 70 others, was a law graduate of the University of Nairobi. The revelation shocked Kenyans and debunked the myth that terrorism is perpetuated only by desperate, unemployed youth.

Along with several other terrorists, Mohammed Abdirahim Abdullahi was gunned down by Kenyan forces hours after launching the April 2 attack that targeted Christian students.

Yesterday, the Kenyan government announced it will freeze the accounts of 86 individuals and organizations suspected of funding terrorism, including two human rights groups—Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI) and HAKI Africa.

In the wake of several recent attacks, leaders from the northern part of the country, where terrorism activities are rampant, have demanded the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya be closed and refugees relocated to the Somali side of the border. They contend the camp is a breeding ground for terrorism.

Kenya’s National Assembly Administration and National Security Committee first suggested closing the camp in 2013, but members of Parliament shot down the proposal. Committee Chairman Asman Kamama now says the United Nations should help Kenya close the camp.

But the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) opposes the proposal, demanding that repatriation of refugees should be strictly voluntary and not forced. Kenya hosts about 450,000 refugees in Dadaab, mostly Somalis who have fled conflict and recurrent drought in their country.

In response to the Garissa attack, Kenya announced it will proceed with plans to build a wall along its porous border with Somalia to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and security threats into the country. Somalia is opposed to the measure. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said building a wall along the 422-mile border would be pointless. Mohamud claims there is no connection between Somali refugees living in Dadaab camps and terrorism activities.

This puts the Kenyan government in a difficult situation. Officials are desperate to show they are doing something about insecurity in the country, while not wanting to be seen as going against international obligations to offer refuge to those in danger.

But the Garissa attack might help the government garner support from some Kenyans who had earlier dismissed the idea of a border wall as unnecessary, and from local Somalia leaders, who were unwilling for the refugees to come home.

Meanwhile, vigils for the victims will be held for the next week in Nairobi and across the country. Mourners who visited Freedom Corner last night lit candles and put up crosses.

Police yesterday arraigned in a Nairobi court six men who allegedly aided the terrorists who attacked the college. But Mohamed Adan Surow, Osman Abdi Dakane, Rashid Charles Mberesero, Mohamed Abdi Abikar, Hassan Aden Hassan, and Sahal Diriye Hussein were not charged because police have not completed their investigation. The men will remain in detention for 30 days and return to court on May 7.

Surow reportedly works in a hotel in Garissa where the attackers, all friends of his, ate the evening before the attack.

Dakane was a security guard at the college. Witnesses told investigators he was seen making phone calls and taking photographs of the scene. Records from his phone show the calls he made were to phone numbers in Somalia, suspected to belong to al-Shabaab operatives connected with the attack.

At the same time, Yemeni national Ahmed Mohamed Ali was also arraigned in court for surveying another university campus alongside two Somali nationals. The two were arrested at Nairobi Assemblies of God Church in what anti-terror police officers believe was another surveillance mission.

Activist Ronnie Osumba said the Garissa incident is the most traumatic terrorist attack Kenya has ever experienced.

“The lives of 142 young, ambitious learners are too precious for this nation to loose in such a tragic manner,” he said. “An educational institution is a supposed to be a place of safety. This notion has been completely shattered. The pain that the event has left amongst family and friends is unbearable and my prayers are with all these to find comfort and closure.”