Kenya’s high court blocks closing of world’s largest refugee camp
Nairobi — On Thursday, Kenya’s High Court blocked the government’s decision to close the Dadaab refugee camp — the world’s largest — and to send Somali refugees home. Judge John Mativo ruled that the plan to shut down the camp was unconstitutional and amounted to persecution of refugees. Dadaab is home to some 256,000 people, the vast majority of them Somalis, who fled across the border following the outbreak of civil war in 1991. The government has taken a hardline stance on the sprawling camp, saying it acts as a terrorist training ground for al-Shabaab Islamists, and repeatedly stating its intention to deport all Somali refugees. However, Mativo ruled that "the government decision specifically targeting Somali refugees is an act of group persecution, illegal, discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional". The shutdown was ordered without proper consultation of people affected by the decision, in violation of the constitutional right to fair legal proceedings, he said in his ruli...
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