Quotes of The Month: May-June 2009
“Human ‘warehousing’ not only violates the rights of refugees, it also impinges on the national sovereignty of hosts and often threatens peace and security between hosts and source nations and their neighbors. Warehousing generally involves allocating vast chunks of territory to foreign administration, not only in the distribution of rations but in exercising several key aspects of sovereignty such as refugee status determinations and even basic law enforcement.”
-Merrill Smith of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, speaking on International Politics and Humanitarian Action
“Some refugees are not allowed to travel since they don’t have ration cards or their ration cards got de-activated by the UNHCR after rejections on the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) procedures in Kakuma and hence left unrecognized, so none of the NGOs in camp can offer them any assistance that are required by the refugees or asylum seekers while many of them have been living in the camp.”
-KANERE journalist speaking on the right to movement and lack of protection after living in Kakuma Camp for six years facing RSD rejection
“I always wish to visit my people in Tanzania, but I heard the Kenyan laws do not allow and I wish to know what does the Kenyan law say about going abroad? I have ten years now staying in Kakuma Refugee Camp missing all my family and relatives.”
-Simon commenting on the right to movement outside Kakuma Camp without a UNHCR-issued permit
“Refugees want words to be replaced by actions when they speak about refugees as real people with real needs. Much emphasis is placed on the actual refugee situation as opposed to refugees’ real sufferings. However, the [humanitarian] agency staffs who speak on their behalf do not feel it exactly.”
-A refugee community leader, commenting on the World Refugee Day celebration at Napata Grounds in Kakuma Camp
“But it’s not always accessible. Sometimes we have electric power shortage and the cyber cafe itself is not enough. I felt dark for the period of no network service and alternatively, the only help is if NGOs could establish other network services in the camp.”
-Tamrat, a young Ethiopian man, commenting on the impact of not having reliable internet services in the camp
“They should at least give the youth simple jobs such as cleaning or any job that does not require much skills. Why should they recruit people from as far away as 500km they can get them here?”
-Eyinei Samuel, a Kenyan Kakuma resident and youth leader, commenting on local Turkana public demonstrations on what they termed as lack of rights
Letter From the Editor May-June 2009
To all KANERE readers here and abroad:
Hello! We apologize that our May-June issue was not published in time due to a lack of the internet service and funds to run the operations as scheduled.
As a new incoming chief editor, Qaabata Boru, I recognize and thank our former editor, bethany ojalehto, for all her efforts. Her great inspirations and dedications have brought considerable changes in the Kakuma Refugee Camp.
Throughout May and June Kakuma was dusty from the wind that blows frequently for almost the whole month. Temperatures were very high. World Refugee Day on June 20th was also celebrated by all the NGO staff and refugees, and a bloody murder occurred among other events.
We are strengthening our commitment to a free press despite the challenges and limitations to carrying out operations.
KANERE appeals to any interested donor to fund the project.
I welcome all comments and contributions from all our readers on the planet.
Please address all correspondence to kakuma.news@gmail.com.
Many thanks,
the KANERE Editor,
Signed.
International Politics and Humanitarian Action
By Merrill Smith
To what extent do international politics impact UNHCR’s humanitarian action? Merrill Smith comments on the political interests that shape international refugee protection, from warehousing to “voluntary repatriation” to resettlement, and advocates a balancing of political and humanitarian concerns through integrative protection approaches.
Merrill Smith is the Director of Government Relations and International Advocacy for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and the Editor of the World Refugee Survey.
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Sudanese Anxious on Their Repatriation
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
Some of the Sudanese refugees in kakuma refugee camp claim that they are not ready for repatriation.
World Universities Service of Canada Empowers Kakuma Refugees
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
25 refugees students who completed their secondary school education embrace unusual opportunity of joining Canada university each year.
Hindrance on the Traveling Documents and Right to Movement
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
Hinderance on the Traveling Documents and Right to Movement.
The Bloody Murder
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
A man murdered at the break of the dawn in kakuma two phase II of kakuma refugee camp, Kenya.
World Refugee Day June 2009
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
Kanere Welcomes 2009 World Refugee Day Theme: Real People Real Need
Re-Opening of the Camp Schools: About Local Demonstration
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
Re-Opening of the Camp Schools: About Local Demonstration.
The Five Day Kakuma Christian Camp at Angelina Jolie Girls Boarding School
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
The Five Day Kakuma Christian Camp at Angelina Jolie Girls Boarding School.
Comments on Distribution of Non-Food Services by NGOs in Camp
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
Comments on Distribution of Non-Food Services by NGOs in Camp.
From My Diary at Food Distribution Center
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
From My Diary at Food Distribution Center September 19th 2007.
Community Talking Point May-June 2009
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
The Impact of not Having Network at the Cyber Cafe in the Camp.
Poem: Tortoise in the Storm
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
TORTOISE IN THE STORM.
Tortoise in the storm
From Darfur to Kivu, from the Ogaden to Kasai
From Mogadishu to Gulu, from Oromo to Bujumbura
From Tigris to Kigali.
Blistered souls moving in all directions
But in no direction
Peripatetic and in uncaring for horizon, for all is
Horizon with dark spiteful cloud
Grappling with sour memories of roaring guns,
Thundering bombs, mutilations, destructions
Tortures and massacres
Crawling on rough paths and treading through rugged terrains with cold misty nights
In isolation and quietude, uncertainty and pain
For home is no place for comparison, its distant obscene
Makes its presence more real in its unreality
As the silent night comes to console the laddered soul
But there is hope, hope for the living
The meandering river at last collapses on the bosom of the sea
The prodigal clouds return to the fold of its waves
A bright light glows at the end of the tunnel
If you and I can shelter the real people, with real needs
From the torrents of the storm
Lets care for the living, real people, real needs!
By Jumbwike Sam Aggrey.
Poem: Lost
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
LOST.
Head down, as I watch my feet hit the ground
I close my eyes, where am I heading.
I do not know
Everything around me stands still
As if, I am in a bad dream
And I am unable to wake up
And then I realize, am not dreaming
That’s my life, am actually living it
Not dreaming it
Everything that I hear am sure nobody else does
Everything that I see, nobody else sees
All the sadness, all the wailing
I wish I could close my eyes and ears
So that I would never have to see or hear
There is no place to hide
I have to face life head on
I just have to, like others have.
All decisions are made for me
It is like I am mindless
Any suggestion I give
Is not good enough
I am a living dead
Only I can’t be buried alive
I always wonder where the dead go
When you die, you are no longer a refugee
I do not want to feel hopeless
But I have bee made to feel that way
By powers that be!
My time will come.
Poem: In the Mirro of Human Rights
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
In the mirror of human rights.
Born of mother and father;
Bears brand of sufferings;
Begs the for life;
Bound with chain of refuge;
In the mirror of human rights;
Refugees are born to suffer?
Delighted in the donors’ mercy heart;
Desired medical care, better feedings;
Discussed on table of agencies;
Disposed to extreme sun shine or coldness;
In the mirror of human right;
Refugees are born to suffer
Little is done to respect humanity of refugee;
Long it has taken;
Look! Some ask how a refugee looks like;
Light has come through sponsorship;
Lo! Government official were once refugees
Today you decide on the fate of refugees;
Tomorrow a refugee will decide on your fate;
Teach refugees the best you want them to do;
Tarry not your days are running;
In the mirror of human rights;
Refugees are sons and daughters of our society.
Neither by powers nor by rights;
Nature dictates you never chose;
Now African, American, European, Asian, or Australian.
Not knowing the origin is the same;
In the mirror of human rights;
Tell the world-is it charity or rights?
Essay on Refugee Human Rights in Camps
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
By Zachary Lomo
Does UNHCR have an obligation to uphold the human rights that are essential for refugees’ free and full development as human beings? Are there any circumstances where a refugee could take UNHCR to court for failing in this regard?
Zachary A. Lomo, LLB (Makerere), LLM (Harvard), directed the Refugee Law Project of the Faculty of Law, Makerere University from July 2001 to August 2006. He co-authored RLP Working Paper Series, Behind the Violence, on the causes of the war in northern Uganda, Negotiating Peace, and Whose Justice? He is currently reading for his doctorate in International Law and Refugees at the University of Cambridge.
Refugee Status Determination: Facing Rejections
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Asylum seekers feel that basic standards of procedural fairness are not being upheld in the RSD process in Kakuma, and fear the consequences of rejections.
Democracy and Refugee Participation in Decision-Making
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Refugees ask whether the UNHCR policy of “participatory decision-making” is actually being realized in Kakuma Camp, and express hope for a more democratic society in refugee camps.
Refugee Experiences of Legal Protection in Kakuma Camp
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Lack of information, lack of access to authorities, and widespread uncertainty about the future of their legal protection and durable solutions
MixMe Nutritional Supplement Raises Questions
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Refugees raise critical questions about the “product rollout” of a new nutritional supplement called Mix Me.
Delays in Resettlement Process Leave Refugees Lingering
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Refugees face anxiety and uncertainty while awaiting feedback on resettlement cases that are unexpectedly delayed.
UNHCR Headcount Encounters Roadblocks
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Technological failure of UNHCR database causes delay in the headcount operation, sparking stampedes and a stone-throwing altercation.
UNHCR Official Flees Field Post
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
A routine visit by a UNHCR official to Field Post was halted as dissatisfied refugees began to stone the premises and the UNHCR official fled to a get-away vehicle.
Boda-Boda Members Demonstrate Over GSU Harrassment
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Boda-boda bicycle taxi drivers demonstrated on March 21st, claiming harassment and unfair competition from the GSU police.
Somali Relocation to Kakuma Alters Course
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Plans to relocate 50,000 Somali refugees from Dadaab Camp to Kakuma Camp have changed as the government agrees to establish a new camp in Northeastern Province.
D* Change Festival Awakens Spirits in Kakuma
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
The D*Change Festival Gospel Crusade entertained refugees and the surrounding public from 12th to 13th March, with popular musicians making a vibrant appearance.
IRC Destroys Refugee Hut on Allegations of Theft
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
IRC destroys a refugee’s building without forewarning, claiming that the iron sheets were “illegally” obtained.
Mobile Court Pays Monthly Visit to Kakuma
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
No refugee cases were brought before the March hearings of the Mobile Court in Kakuma, where local cases are heard on a monthly basis.
Save Our Library!
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Refugees call for efforts to save the only library in Kakuma Camp as the building threatens to collapse and librarians lose their job due to budget cuts.
Darfurian Initiative for Women’s Education
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
A Darfurian community initiative to educate women in English has already had remarkable positive impacts, but lacks support from humanitarian agencies.
Refugee Scholar Still Stuck in Kakuma Due to UNHCR Delays
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
A refugee scholar due to begin a masters program in early January is still waiting in Kakuma Camp as UNHCR attempts to process his travel document.
Refugee Scholarships Bring Privileges and Frustration
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Refugees who obtain university degrees consider the meager employment opportunities in Kakuma, asking what next?
What is at the Root of Poor Primary School Performance?
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
How do students, teachers, and parents view the poor performance of primary schools in the camp?
3% of Secondary Students Score Qualifying Exam Marks
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Only 9 students of 284 scored a qualifying mark on the KCSE exams for entry to Kenyan public universities.
Selling What They Have: Commercial Sex Workers
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Commercial sex workers in Kakuma Refugee Camp report that they are forced by poverty and dependency to resort to their profession, despite grave risks
Refugee Children Face Unknown Developmental Disorders
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
For children living with unknown developmental disorders in Kakuma Camp, the medical situation is unpromising and the future profoundly uncertain.
Insufficient Food Supply Leads to Trade and Bartering
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
With food supplies already meager, refugees must exchange food items for staples such as charcoal, leaving them hungry.
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