Tuesday, June 21, 2016
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, over 300,000 Somali refugees currently call the Dadaab camp in Kenya home. (Associated Press)
Kenyan government plans to close Dadaab settlement over suspected terrorist ties
An Ottawa man who spent nearly two decades in the world's largest refugee camp — and whose family still lives there — says he fears for their safety if the settlement is shut down.
Abdi Anshur spent nearly 20 years in the Dadaab settlement in Kenya, but the east African country has announced it intends on closing the camp over security fears.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which manages the camp, there are currently over 300,000 Somali refugees who call Dadaab home.
Abdi Anshur says closing the Dadaab camp will threaten the safety of Somali refugees, including members of his family. (photo provided by Abdi Anshur)
Although he's now a Canadian, Anshur said he still feels very connected to the place.
"I grew up in that refugee camp," said Anshur, who left Dadaab in 2011.
Anshur graduated from the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management in 2015 with a degree in finance. He credits his time at the refugee camp with helping him get the education necessary to secure a World University Service of Canada scholarship.
"I went to elementary school in that same refugee camp. Did my high school and did well in my final year."
Mother, brothers still in camp
Anshur's mother and brothers still reside at Dadaab along with members of his extended family. Anshur said he worries that if the refugee camp closes, Somalis living there will have nowhere else to go except back home, which will only put them at risk.
"There is no security in Somalia," said Anshur.
Kenyan officials want the camp closed over concerns that the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group al-Shabaab is operating there, but Anshur says the group's member are spread across the entire region.
The al-Shabaab militants go everywhere. They operate everywhere. They are not based in the Dadaab refugee camp."
The UN Refugee Agency's representative in Canada said his organization is working to help keep the camp open.
Michael Casasola of the UN Refugee Agency says his organization is working to keep Dadaab open. (CBC)
"Certainly this is something of incredible importance to us. We are working to find a solution for the situation," said Michael Casasola.
"Our challenge is to continue to talk to the Kenyan government to see if we can find a solution in terms of all Somali refugees that are in the camp and effectively safe, and that we will find a way through this."