Refugees' joy at Kenyan court ruling not to close camp

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya

A day after the Kenyan High court blocked the closure of the world's largest refugee camp its inhabitants spoke to Anadolu Agency of their relief.

The government's decision to close Dadaab refuge camp, which houses 256,000 mostly Somalian refugees, was declared an "act of group persecution, illegal, discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional" by the High Court in Nairobi on Thursday.

Halima, who fled the conflict in neighboring Somalia after her husband was killed, said she thanked God for the ruling.

"God answers prayers," the 36-year-old, who asked that only her given name be used, said. "I was not worried and I am not worried… I always tell God to watch over me.

"All Somali refugees in this camp pray for safety, which is what made us leave our country. We are not here because we want to be here. We have heard on the radio about the ruling and that is how we know that our prayers are being answered. They [the government] won’t send us to our deaths."

She added: "I have no one to return to at the moment. My husband was killed by al-Shabaab, I was separated from my son. I have never seen him. If we are forced to return to Somalia, we will return to our deaths.

"The court ruling is a sign that God takes care of his people and we are happy for the time being."

Aden, 29, said the camp's residents had heard the news of the government's court defeat on the radio.

"We were so happy, some of us were even crying," he said. "We are living in a foreign country where we are being told 'You have as much time to stay, when the time expires go back to your country and die.'

"Somalia is not safe. No one should lie to you that we are going back by our own will. If it was by our own will I wouldn't be here now.

"We hear of numerous attacks every day in Somalia, sending us back will be killing us. This is a burden we have removed from our back but we don’t know till when. We are still worried."

Despite the court ruling, the government remains determined to close the camp where some residents have lived since the outbreak of civil war in Somalia in 1991.

Ministers have said the camp had become a "haven" for al-Shabaab terrorists who have carried out attacks on Kenyan territory in recent years. The government said it would be "strongly appealing" the High Court decision.