“Desperation Breeds Fear and Fear Breeds Phobia”
“This is much more toxic than a harmless cathartic discourse. This is hatred; raw, chilling and blood-curdling. And it has been systematic in its evolution; progressing – in the last decade- from incipient mistrust through silent, yet palpable intolerance to full blown Somalophobia bordering on genocidal animosity… As the Kenyan public imbibes this unhealthy dose of bigotry, a beast is being created out of the Somali; a foreign-born, tax evading, grenade-hurling ingrate.”
-Aden Hassan- Warya Post April 5th 2014
The background to this fever animosity started 23 years ago after the collapse of Somalia’s central government in 1991. Kenya generously hosted more than half a million Somali refugees after the collapse but in the last few years the Kenyan government has singled out refugees as the source of the country’s insecurity. Following a spike in cross-border attacks and kidnapping of aid workers, Kenya sent its troops into Somalia in October 2011. With more than 50 attacks involving grenades or improvised explosive devices security in mainland Kenya, security has since deteriorated following the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab’s response by announcing plans to take the battle to Kenyan streets. The Kenyan government believes some of these incidents, including the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall last September, which left 67 people dead and more than 100 wounded, were planned in the refugee camps.
Over the past few months Kenya has seen the government raise its arms, ostensibly supported by the US, in a crackdown against refugees and foreigners in a vicious and largely illegal anti-terrorist campaign. Kenya’s Secretary of Interior, Ole Lenku, issued a directive on 26 March ordering all refugees to move to run-down and overcrowded camps in northern Kenya. This followed a similar government directive in December 2012, which was quashed by Kenya’s High Court in July 2013. The Court said relocation to the camps would violate refugees’ dignity and freedom of movement and risks indirectly forcing them back to Somalia. The Court also ruled that the Kenyan government had not proved that the move would help protect national security. The current crackdown is not only in breach of the High Court judgement, but has also been implemented unlawfully.
The government crackdown on refugees has escalated since then with the large-scale anti-terror operation called Rudisha Usalama (“restore peace,”) where since April 2nd, the Kenyan government has been arresting more than 4,000 people throughout the country, targeting the densely populated section of Nairobi, Eastleigh, often called “Little Mogadishu” because of its predominantly Somali population. The Government says the aim of the operation is to arrest and prosecute persons suspected of engaging in terrorist activities, identify places harbouring criminals and contain and prevent general acts of crime and lawlessness.
Aden Hassan calls this justification ‘pathetic nonsense’ which Kenyans are ‘becoming inebriated with, so much so that they are willing to vent their frustrations, born out of poor governance and a dysfunctional economy, on the Somali population. They are the victims of a nascent but classic culture of scapegoating, not dissimilar to the xenophobic Western societies which veer to the extreme, foreign-bashing right whenever economic realities bite.’
Amnesty International’s report published in February, No Place Like Home: Returns and Relocations of Somalia’s Displaced, documented how widespread intimidation and lack of respect for human rights are forcing Somali refugees out of Kenya. In the report, the ongoing incessant harassment of Somalis by deeply corrupt Kenyan police has been described as a knee-jerk approach to the rising insecurity. Systemic and structural problems within Kenya’s security apparatus have eroded trust in the state and the Somali community feels it is a scapegoat for as a result of this intimidation.
The Kasarani detention camp is a clear example of this intimidation where contrary to international law and in gross violation of human rights the government is detaining many people mainly of Somali descent to ‘curb insecurity;’ the go-to justification for injustice. The government has been under fire over the facility which has been approved for use in the current war on terror. The Orange Democratic Movement ODM has condemned the Kasarani Stadium detention camp, terming it wrong, unlawful, barbaric and colonialist. The Jubilee government has defended its actions saying the move is necessary to rid the country of illegal and unsafe elements. Various groups including Human Rights activists, members of parliament including some allied to the ruling Jubilee Coalition and the public have openly displayed their displeasure at the camp. Human Rights Watch observed this month that “hundreds of detainees packed into cells designed to accommodate 20 people” after visiting the Pangani police station in Eastleigh. “Detainees had no room to sit, and the cells were filthy with urine and excrement,” the group said in a statement.
Just this Friday (April 25th), the Consular general of the Somali Embassy in Kenya, Siyad Mohamud Shire was arrested from his home. He was later on released after interrogation without a clear reason given for his arrest. This is the second time that a diplomat at the embassy is being held contrary to international law. In January Ilyas Yusuf Warsame, a secretary, was arrested over terror related incidents.
A bomb that exploded outside a police station in Nairobi last Wednesday evening (April 23rd), the Interior Ministry informed the public, killing two officers, the latest in a series of attacks to rock Kenya since last month. Though the acts are widely – but noticeably without evidence – attributed to the Somali Islamist group, Al Shabaab, there have been no claims of responsibility. In other incidents, a bus was bombed in Nairobi’s Eastleigh, and armed men shot dead KDF soldiers in Garissa. Following this a contingent of KDF soldiers reportedly descended on Garissa residents shooting, looting, raping and setting an entire market ablaze. The reactions to these attacks have seen sections of Eastleigh become war zones as Somalis came under instant attacks from a people who used to be considered as kind and considerate.
If the situation in Kenya seems familiar it’s because it is; in the post-9/11 era, where security serves as the overarching lens, states enjoy immunity from criticism domestically and abroad. This false dichotomy of “you are either with the state(s) fighting the terrorists or with the terrorists” underscores Kenya’s boldness in targeting Somalis. An explanation for the ostensible lack of international outrage is the fact that Kenya is the United States’ key regional ally in the “war on terror.” Given Kenya’s service fighting Al-Shabaab on America’s behalf Washington is reluctant to pressure Nairobi. Additionally, having inspired a slew of antiterrorism laws around the world and engaged in domestic spying on Muslims and Muslim organizations, the U.S. lacks the moral authority to question other countries on their counterterrorism efforts.
The US is implicitly supporting Kenya’s extreme counter-terrorism tactics by directly funding and training the Kenyan police. Since 2003 Kenya has received extensive aid from Washington through the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counter-terrorism program, which aims to reduce the operational capacity of militant networks by providing enforcement, military and development assistance to countries.
The current security operation which which has been compared to Operation Anvil a British military operation in the 1950s during the Mau Mau Uprising where British troops attempted to remove Mau Mau from Nairobi and place them in Langata Camp or reserves. It has and will continue to deepen mistrust between Somalia and the government and Kenyans in general and further antagonize ethnic Somalis if not carefully managed. Riddled with corruption, abuse of power and bad management, the security operation has seen the refugee community punished for the actions of a few. 4000 detained and 89 deported is an interesting statistic that raises questions about the real motivation behind the crackdown. Questions the media and Kenyans seem reluctant to ask. A comment on Facebook captures the situation: desperation breeds fear, fear breeds phobia… this is the initial aim: to create desperate fear resulting in xenophobia and then war breaks out.
By Ondi Madete
