http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/3845.cfm
Kenya's Incursion in Somalia
Andre Vltchek
December 4, 2011
Refugees at the Dadaab camp close to the border between Kenya and Somalia.
(Photo: Brendan Bannon, World News Photo)
Kenyan troops invaded Somalia on Oct. 16. The official version given by
Nairobi was that it began chasing al-Shabaab, the powerful Somali Muslim
organization that controls large parts of southern Somalia and is allegedly
linked to al Qaeda. The Western-backed Somali government first protested
the invasion, then changed its rhetoric and agreed to work with the Kenyan
troops.
Considering that Kenyan troops undertook a major military excursion to a
neighboring country, Kenyan media showed extraordinary discipline and
restraint: There has been no criticism of the action. Journalists from two
major newspapers—*The Nation* and *The Standard*—have been since the
beginning embedded with the troops, firing zealous and patriotic
dispatches. Independent media has had no access to the battlefield.
The official reasons given for the invasion were the kidnapping of several
Western tourists from the coast, and the disappearance of foreign and local
Doctors without Borders staff from the Dadaab refugee camp near the Somali
border in October.
Al-Shabaab strongly denied any responsibility for the kidnapping, and some
members of international organizations based at the Dadaab camp (who want
to remain anonymous) said that there is no proof that foreign groups were
involved in the kidnapping. One said, "There are rumors that Kenyans
performed the kidnapping of relief workers to justify their military
action. A large military invasion is always planned long in advance,
especially if performed by a poor country with bad infrastructure. Kenya
invaded Somalia only a few days after the alleged kidnapping of relief
workers. It is simply not adding up."
All over Nairobi there is talk that the West in general and the United
States in particular are behind the invasion, but nobody is willing to go
on the record. Kenyan elites are one way or the other linked to and
dependent on U.S. and European policymakers: through funding, employment,
training or various travel perks. Nobody wants to risk having his or her
name added to the visa black list.
And so there is silence. Once-outspoken voices like those of the head of
the Social Democratic Party of Kenya, Mwandawiro Mghanga, are surprisingly
muted these days, although Mghanga confirmed that "Kenya's open
collaboration with Israel complicates matters."
There is hardly any criticism even as the evidence is mounting that the
Kenyan invasion is having a terrible effect on civilian population in
Somalia. As a result of the war, dire situations in refugee camps in Kenya
have deteriorated even further, and humanitarian crises now seem
inevitable. There has been an outbreak of cholera in Dadaab, the largest
refugee camp on Earth with close to 500,000 people.
Refugee camps in Northern Kenya, mostly swollen with Somali refugees
escaping sporadic fighting and insecurity in their native land, are
restless, as are Somali neighborhoods in Nairobi. Kenya is a country with a
long history of racially motivated violence, the worst recent example being
gruesome post-election violence in 2008 that left thousands dead.
Anti-Somali feelings in Kenya are on the rise. Since the beginning of the
latest conflict, threats are being uttered by government officials and by
ordinary citizens.
One of the threats heard in whispers is to "clean up" Eastleigh, a
neighborhood predominantly inhabited by Somali immigrants and often
nicknamed Little Mogadishu. Unlike refugees in the camps, immigrants in
Eastleigh are "legal" in Kenya. These are often people with money, many of
whom managed to bribe Kenyan officials and as a result have been issued
either Kenyan passports or permanent residence permits.
Dadaab remains the biggest problem, although Kakuma, in the Turkana
district, is also experiencing overcrowding. While working there recently,
I was repeatedly reminded that people there already lost their hope that
one day they could go back or be allowed to move forward. War in Somalia
prevents them from returning, while Kenya does not give them opportunities
to resettle on its territory, or even to travel outside the camps. There
are hundreds of thousands of young men and women in the camps who have
never seen the mountains, meadows, ocean or a city. They were born in a
camp, brought up there and probably will never leave.
Over the last two weeks, international news agencies carried reports that
Ethiopia, another staunch Western ally, sent troops to Somalia to back the
Kenyan invasion there. The last time Ethiopia invaded Somalia, there was
bloodshed and an increase of support for al-Shabaab.
After the invasion, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga visited Israel,
which offered to secure Kenya's borders. *BBC* reported that "Kenya got the
backing of Israel to 'rid its territory of fundamentalist elements' during
Prime Minister Raila Odinga's visit to the country." Israel has regularly
played a destabilizing role in East Africa, particularly in Uganda but in
other countries as well.
Kenyan tactics have become extreme. Thousands of families in Nairobi, both
Kenyan and Somali, have fallen victim to what officials often describe as a
Kenyan war on terror. In recent weeks, police and army, accompanied by
heavy equipment that consists of excavators and bulldozers, invaded slums
and legal multi-story buildings. At night, people cry and scream, dragged
from their dwellings, often in the rain. Workers then begin immediate
demolition of their houses. The official explanation is that houses, slums
and apartment buildings sit on the approach path of military planes.
Visiting one of the demolition sites in Eastleigh I was told by Gilbert, a
former resident, "There is no discussion and no negotiation. That's how it
is in Kenya. They call it democracy, but in fact government can come and
throw us to the street. If we protest, they just shoot to kill." As he
spoke, police and army were making their presence felt, holding machine
guns while their dogs thrashed on their leashes.
Whatever the truth is behind the adventure in Somalia, Kenya appears to be
playing an extremely dangerous game, endangering millions of human lives,
for the benefit of the few members of its elites.
*Andre Vltchek filed this report from Dadaab refugee camp and from Nairobi,
Kenya. Mr. Vltchek is a writer, filmmaker and investigative journalist. His
website is
http://andrevltchek.weebly.com. His latest non-fiction book
"Oceania" shows the impact of Western neo-colonialism on tiny island
nations in the South Pacific. He is presently working on a documentary film
on Rwanda and the Congo as well as a political novel called "Winter
Journey." He can be reached at andre-wcn_at_usa.net.*
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Received on Mon Dec 05 2011 - 10:23:31 EST