Kenya plans to intensify the vetting of refugees to support regional efforts to destroy Somali-based terror group Al-Shabaab.
The Ministry of Interior and National Administration on Monday, February 6 stated that the improved vetting regime will apply to refugees who entered the country from Somalia in the last few months.
Moreover, the vetting exercise is anticipated to compliment President Hassan Mohamud’s administration intensified onslaught on the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.
Likewise, the increase in the influx of refugees has been credited to the severe drought that continues to ravage several Horn of Africa states.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki reported that the fight against Al-Shabaab in Somalia has resulted in about 100,000 asylum seekers in the country.
The CS further stated that the Kenyan government will vet each refugee beginning next month to prevent the penetration of the terrorists’ groups into refugee camps.
“We are going to start the screening and status determination procedures in the next one month in accordance with our national laws and the UN convention on the status of refugees of 1951,” he added.
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Nonetheless, Kenya hosts several refugee camps including Dadaab and Kakuma: arguably one of the world’s largest camps.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimations, 24,000 people arrived at the Dadaab camp complex by December 2022 in under four months.
As such CS Kindiki noted that security agencies have beefed up border surveillance to prevent Somalia-based militant group from gaining access into the country.
The CS also added that the government-led crackdown on Al-Shabaab terror cells in Somalia has significantly weakened the group.
“Our security agencies are alert to ensure that these militants do not cross into our territory to keep them at bay now that this terror group is its weakest,” said the CS.
He further said that security agencies have improved on intelligence gathering to stay several steps ahead of the terrorists.
“We are always aware that terrorists only need one lucky break to hurt our Country and inflict us with pain. We must always strike first and fast to neutralize them and obliterate their nefarious networks,” Kindiki stated.
