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Kakuma Refugee Camp |
Each
year, on June 20, the United Nations marks World Refugee Day; a time to
recognize the contributions of refugees to their communities around the world.
Refugees
are people who are forced to flee their home countries due to political
persecution, war, famine, and other causes of forced migration. The moment they
cross the borders of foreign lands, migrants are known as "refugees"
— a brand that doesn't only degrade their status, but also subjects them to
indifference to their basic human needs.
Kakuma
Refugee Camp
The
Kakuma refugee camp was established in 1991 and is located 95km from
Lokichoggio, a town at the Kenya-Sudan border. It is administered by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and falls under the jurisdiction
of the Kenyan government. Kakuma, meaning "nowhere" in Swahili, has
been controlled through the Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA) since the
adoption of the Kenya Refugee Act of 2006. The refugee camp is connected with
only a highway on the Kenyan northern corridor.
Kakuma
is remote; it is a cosmopolitan camp. Over many years, it has developed into a
town within another town, since the actual city of Kakuma is also home to
non-refugees. The camp's area is defined by a harsh environment in a remote
location, coupled with poor infrastructure and low access to essential
services, in addition to other underlying causes of poverty.
In
the Kakuma refugee camp, tens of thousands of multinational refugees have been
warehoused for decades. Refugees are trapped there with one big difference
between the camp's residents and those who live in the town of Kakuma: The
camp's residents cannot leave without permission from the camp's governing
authority.
The
refugee camp itself has three major settlement sections. During the early
stages of its inception, the Kakuma refugee camp was designed to accommodate
South Sudanese refugees fleeing conflict and violence. Over the years, the camp
has accommodated refugees from: South Sudan; Sudan; Somali; DRC Congo; Burundi;
Ethiopia; Rwanda; Eritrea; Uganda; Tanzania; and Congo-Brazzaville. The camp
has also accommodated three Ivoirians, an Iranian, a Zimbabwean, and a
Cameroonian.
By
mid-May, the total population in Kakuma stood at 150,891, of which 49,767 were
refugees of Somali origin. Another 44,395 were refugees from South Sudan.
However, by the end of May, the camp's population had already increased to
155,269 persons, according to a UNHCR official report.
Refugees'
Voices
In
the Kakuma refugee camp, World Refugee Day was commemorated on Thursday, June
20 at the Napata grounds in the camp. At 9am, flags were lifted and dancing and
speeches soon followed.
Some
views expressed by camp residents are full of bitterness and worries: "I'm
in a voluntary prison, I was young when I arrived here 14 years ago," said
Elias Wondimu, an Ethiopian refugee in Kakuma. "That has changed now, I
don't see any reason as to why we celebrate refugee day. I hate
life."
Refugees
in the camp are trapped and their rights to freedom of movement and to obtain
employment and citizenship are denied. The UNHCR is supposed to advocate
refugee rights, but camp residents strongly feel that the UN Refugee Agency has
done little in finding durable solutions.
Sara
Hassan, a Somali refugee, said: "I wish I could turn back time. I have
lived here since 1994 [and] I was promised resettlement but that turned out to
be a dream; many years of waiting. Was my case closed? I don't see real life
anymore."
There
are no well established structures, and human rights conditions are fragile.
Therefore, the exact figures concerning victims of rape and sexual assaults are
not registered, despite its rampant occurrences.
Some
refugees have the opportunity to go back to their homeland, while others will
never have the chance to set foot on their country of origin again. In Kakuma,
refugees have strongly encountered the negative impact of warehousing and many
lives are being lost in exile. Some refugees will be lucky enough to secure
resettlement abroad, while many others who desire the same thing will never get
the opportunity. Some even feel discriminated against.
"Are
all refugees equal? Some are more equal than others [and] some deserve
resettlement, but it's a taboo to Rwandese in Kakuma," said Leah Bugingo,
a Rwandan refugee. "I hope there will be change for [future]
generations."
In
the Kakuma camp, refugees are entirely dependent on humanitarian food aid.
Their life consists of constant waiting and dreams of new hope. Under these
circumstances, children grow to adulthood and adults grow to old age in this
warehousing situation.
As
a refugee community leader in Kakuma said: "We're vulnerable, we're
voiceless, [and] we're neglected by the UN, the media, [and] the international
community, as well by our host government."
Source: Fair Observer
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