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"speaker_name": "Maj. Sugow",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Water and Irrigation",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to support this Bill, which is long overdue. Kenya is a host to very many refugees from various parts of this region. For a long time, we have not had any legislation within which to manage the affairs of refugees in this country. It is high time, therefore, that this House takes responsibility to ensure that proper legislation is put in place. As an hon. Member from an area which is currently hosting refugees, I know that there are quite a number of responsibilities bestowed upon us, as a member nation of the international community, in terms of caring for those people who are not lucky enough to have peace in their countries. However, in the course of undertaking such responsibility, we must ensure that the rights, welfare and respect of Kenyans are not infringed in any way. It is in this light that I feel that this Bill has come at an opportune time, to ensure that we provide laws to protect the rights of Kenyans hosting our guests. We must balance between taking care of the welfare of our guests and ensuring the rights, welfare and aspirations of Kenyans who live in areas designated for hosting refugees. I am happy that, to a large measure, the Bill has catered for this aspect. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are certain aspects I feel the Ministry concerned should always consider when establishing refugee camps. The first and most important aspect is 3702 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 15, 2006 whether the environment in that area can sustain the population envisaged. There are areas in this country with very fragile ecosystems, which cannot sustain huge populations. Most of the people in ASAL areas are nomads because they cannot live in those areas for a long time. Normally, most of our guests from our neighbouring countries come with their property, especially those being hosted in areas neighbouring their countries of origin; particularly livestock. Their livestock normally compete for the limited pasture and other resources, with those of the host communities. These are aspects that, in future, the Government should always consider when locating a refugee camp. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I strongly recommend that we should always locate refugee camps in the opposite side from where the subjects have run away, instead of keeping them only 100 kilometres away from our border with their country of origin. That way, they can have the incentive of remaining in the camps, instead of involving themselves in other activities and mixing up with the local communities with whom they have common identity. Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, I am speaking here today with full knowledge of the responsibilities, difficulties and disadvantages of hosting refugees. Refugees are our neighbours. They are our fellow Africans. Most of us share blood with them but they are also a problem at the local level. As I speak, there are certain areas in my constituency which Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) cannot access. I am talking about a whole division. If you host one refugee camp, which the Government saw it fit to close to PSVs, all the population in that division cannot travel. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Jarajira Division is one of the three divisions in my constituency. Hagardera is in that particular division. In order to go to Jarajira Division from Garissa, you have to pass through Hagardera. The refugee camp is sited in such a way that it is just astride the road, leading to Jarajira Division. To-date, nearly nine centres belonging to this division are not accessible by PSVs. Our people are suffering in the interest of curbing refugee movement. There are better ways of controlling and taking care of State interests and national security other than infringing on the rights and freedoms of our people. It is very important to ensure that where such interests and freedoms of our people are infringed, then we must reconsider our decision to host the refugees in the first place. The decision by the Government to close up that area to PSVs has sown seeds of discord between the communities hosting the refugees and the refugees themselves. It has created hatred. The local people feel that they are suffering for hosting the refugees, whose movement the Government is trying to curb. So, that has become a problem. Therefore, in the light of this fact, we must find ways of ensuring that in future, we host refugees and locate refugee camps in such a manner that problems of this kind do not arise. We must locate refugee camps away from main routes, leading to shopping centres. Refugee camps must be located away from established shopping centres, so that when need arises for them to be closed down, we do not disrupt the lives of Kenyans. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our actions and attitudes towards refugees in this country should purely be dictated by the interests of this country and the international protocols to which we subscribe, not by nations trying to fight their own proxy wars across the world. We must be very careful in determining the destiny of refugees in this country. We must look at our own interests, as a nation, and we must look at the international protocols, for example, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the African Union (AU) and other protocols that bind us, as a nation, to the international community, but not more than that. Currently, what is happening in Somalia is purely propagated further by other countries outside Somalia. Kenya has been an island of peace and it has tried its best to export the peace that we have in this country by mediating the warring parties in our neighbouring countries. We must continue with that trend and we must always be seen to be neutral regarding the conflicts in our November 15, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3703 neighbourhood. But, today, Kenya is the most affected country by the conflict in Somalia. We are hosting the largest number of refugees from that country. Actually, we are hosting all the refugees from that country. It is, therefore, in the interest of this country that peace prevails in Somalia. The only way we can do this is to be, as much as possible, neutral in the conflict. Where we can, and there is the possibility, we need to mediate between the warring factions rather than taking sides. Our foreign policy should be such that it does not create refugees in our neighbourhood. We already have enough problems. Therefore, we must endeavour to get peace in our neighbourhood so that the pressure that exists in our country and which is brought about by refugees subsides. We should not create fresh pressure or refugee influx out of policies or practices coming from this country. Our foreign policy and our actions should go together as a nation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, all the Ministries concerned, for example, the Ministry of Administration and National Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons, should work together. One Ministry should not say one thing and then another Ministry practises a different matter in the field, because that is what is currently happening. Our actions should go together. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}