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"speaker_name": "Mr. Nderitu",
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"legal_name": "Alfred Mwangi Nderitu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I am actually not the Chairman. The Chairman is hon. Kajembe, who is absent today. He has some problems and he had to fly back to Mombasa. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, first and foremost, I would like to say that it is high time that the Government introduces a Bill which controls the issue of refugees in this country. Secondly, we also have to note that the Government entered into and signed protocols way back in 1967. I do not think whether those protocols were debated exhaustively. Those protocols are the ones which are hurting this country today. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the requirements of this Bill cannot be over- emphasized. Today, the Government is not involved in the vetting and registration of the refugees who are coming into this country, other than the UNHCR, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other related bodies. Today, the communities where these refugee camps are located are not protected. Today, the Government is not responsible for the number of refugees who are here, but the multi-nationals, and Kenya is a sovereign State. So, the biggest question is: Who knows that, among those refugees, we do not have murderers, rapists and all sorts of people? They have been left alone. It is as if we have abrogated our duties to somebody else. It is high time now that Parliament and the Government takes control of who enters into the boundaries of this land. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, going by what has been happening, and you have heard hon. Members who come from the areas where these refugee camps are located state in this august House that some communities in those areas wish to be in those refugee camps. Why? They are provided with basic necessities, like food and clothing in the refugee camps. The multinationals also look for jobs for them and repatriate them to Third World countries. This country also has professionals, and the multinationals never get concerned with people from the host communities by looking for jobs for them. If we compare the schools in the refugee camps with the ones in those localities, it is just like going into a high-class primary school. We will be comparing them to a village primary school, which has no doors, floors or windows and has a leaking roof. The refugee camps also have better health centres and health care than our people. This Bill is trying to harmonize all these situations. We have sat down, as the Committee, and we have come up with quite a number of amendments to protect our people. When the time for the Committee Stage comes, these 3704 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 15, 2006 amendments are going to be brought to the Floor of the House, and we are urging all hon. Members to assist us to make sure that this Bill harmonizes the situation on the ground. We would like that, when a refugee camp is being designated, it should be gazetted and the communities surrounding that area should be consulted, whether they agree or not. But at the moment, if you asked my dear Assistant Minister here, Maj. Sugow, whether he would want that refugee camp to be located in his constituency, he would say that he would rather the camp is relocated from the constituency, because it does not benefit his people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, why do we allow refugees to bring along their animals? That question can only be answered if we have an Act of Parliament or if we have our own law. That is why we are bringing this Bill to protect our resources, land and the people of Kenya. I was very surprised to hear that even the Government does not know the exact number of refugees who are in this country. We have more than 280,000 refugees in the country, and some of them are here in Eastleigh. They are the ones who have been allowed to do business. But how can the Government act or follow them when they are not registered? They do not have identification documents showing that they are refugees and they were not vetted by the Government. This was only done through the UNHCR and the Refugees Consortium of Kenya (RCK), which is an NGO. That is why we are saying that this responsibility should be squarely owned by the Government. We should vet the amount of money the multinationals pump into these refugee camps. I stand to be corrected by the Minister when he responds, but this year alone, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Bank and other multinationals have spent more than Kshs38 billion. Where is this money? Where has it gone? If we had a law to check this, then the Government would have known where every shilling has gone. The importance of this Bill needs not to be overemphasized. However, I would urge the Minister, who has really worked with the Committee, to expedite the amendments. These amendments are in the formation of the committee. We should bring in, not necessarily the Ministries to be represented by the Permanent Secretaries, but a community person. We want a community person to be able to ascertain the demarcation of the land. He will be protecting the interests of the community. We also want the Office of the Attorney-General to follow up on behalf of the people of Kenya and make sure that all the laws appertaining to refugees; their entrance and registration, are put in place. As much as we would want to remove the Provincial Administration from this matter because they failed us in past, we would want the Minister to put his foot on the ground and not to allow Al Qaeda operatives in the disguise of being refugees to come to our country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the other hand, if we look at the climatic conditions of the areas where these refugee camps are, they are worsening day by day. This is because the refugees have depleted all the forests and water catchment areas. They have done so, by cutting trees for fire wood and erecting up their structures. It is high time the Government took over and pushed the International Environmental Committee, UNHCR and World Bank, to do afforestation in these areas because very soon the desert will catch up with us. The acceleration of the desert has been created by us trying to play good boys by following the international laws of protecting refugees. The international community is not helping Kenya. It is only good at pointing fingers at us and telling us how destructive we are, and yet, partly, it is the one which has helped the refugees to come and destroy our land, forests, rivers and water catchment areas. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the co-ordinator and mainly the chairman who will be appointed by the Minister, if necessary, let him be a retired Judge of the High Court. He should be a person of high integrity and one who will serve and protect this nation from the vagaries of AlQaeda . Also, his team will be working round the clock with sound mind. It should be ready to protect this country. I do not know where we will get people with no glue in their hands; who will November 15, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3705 not be bribed here and there, to allow unwanted refugees into the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also like to address the issue of the Kenya/Somalia border. I would want to see this Bill, at least, create entry points on our porous borders, such that it makes the environment, so conducive that when a refugee is coming in, he will not hide. It will make them free to come in, because they will be protected under the international and Kenyan laws. In so doing, we will be able to register more refugees. Also, criminals will have no way to penetrate the country and kill our people as it happened in the Northern Frontier. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, implementing this law is a tall order. The Government will require a lot of money in this process. Tanzania and Uganda have passed a similar law. I know that the taxpayers' money will be used in the implementation of this law. It will be used to employ this committee. It is now the responsibility of the Ministry to discuss with the multinationals, like what Tanzania and Uganda did, and get the programme of refugees to be funded directly by the UNHCR. I would also urge that signing of protocols not be done without involving Parliament. This is because today our hands are tied. The faster we enact this Bill into law, the better for the country because it will be protected from so many vagaries around the world. The Minister has a responsibility also to initiate collaboration with the development partners who promote peace and harmonization. That way, our neighbours will cease wedging wars among themselves and we will curb the influx of refugees in our country. The Government also has to ensure that these refugees become productive in the sense that in their own areas, through the help of multinationals, they pay tax for enjoying the sun, water and protection of this land. Some of them have destroyed their own countries and they have come to hide in Kenya. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry also has to ensure that the resources of where these camps are situated, are taken care of. Refugees are using water in those areas and even the majority of them, are now farming. We need to know what type of chemicals they are using. Are these areas going to be used as guinea pigs for imported chemical products? This Bill is important because it will enable the Government to take control of all utilities in these refugee camps. We can dwell so much on this Bill, but on behalf of the Departmental Committee on the Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs, I urge for expediency in passing this Bill. We will allow all participants to participate effectively in deliberations on this Bill. To wind up, rape in refugee camps is so rampant that you will get men raping men, men raping girls and men raping other people's wives. We would like these people to be accorded the protection that they deserve. We would like to see young girls who come to these camps with their mothers being offered protection. That protection will only come from the Kenyan Government, if we enact this Bill. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}