Amnesty International has welcomed Kenya’s decision to close the Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps by June 30, 2022. The Human Rights lobby group said in a statement on Thursday that neither permanent refugee camps, hurried camp closures, or violating international non-refoulment principles are solutions. “We trust the Government of Kenya and UN High Commissioner for Refugees shall work towards identifying more opportunities for resettlement or voluntarily repatriation of willing refugees in dignified manner,” Irungu Houghton, Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director said in the statement. At the same time, Amnesty International urged the government not to abandon its history as a “sanctuary nation” while embroiled in a diplomatic dispute with Somalia. On Thursday, Kenya formally informed the UNHCR- the UN Refugee Agency- of its intention to close the Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps by June 30, 2022.

Source: Daily Nation April 30, 2021 04:26 UTC