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{
    "id": 395050,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/395050/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 191,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "October 8, 2013 SENATE DEBATES 22 Sen. Hassan",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, first and foremost, I want to appreciate the Mover of this Motion, and rise to support the Motion. If you recall the history of the Somali people in this country, I have read in history books that just before Kenya got Independence, there was a referendum that was conducted in what was formally known as the Northern Frontier District (NFD). These were the districts of Wajir, Moyale, Mandera, Marsabit and Garissa. An overwhelming number of the members of the Northern Frontier District elected then, through that referendum, to be part of the larger Somalia. But I think as circumstances dictated, they were part of this country and they have surrendered to the fact that they are in Kenya to stay. There are two reasons why they had obvious fears of why they did not want to be part of Kenya at that time. Among their fears was cultural and religious discrimination and marginalization. They also feared political domination. I think if we critique northern Kenya for the last 50 years, most of these fears have been confirmed and I think it would be reckless of us as a country not to be able to mitigate some of the concerns that were articulated more than 50 years ago and integrate them in our framework of development. They have been marginalized out of sheer want of Government policy to be able to ensure that they developed Kenya equitably and justly. What has now been the consequence of this? It is a shame and indeed the country is on trial for a Kenyan citizen to slide into a refugee camp and to abrogate all privileges and rights that accrue to him or her under the Constitution merely because of poverty. So the Government must intervene. Madam Temporary Speaker, I dealt with this matter in a substantive form when I was a commissioner with some of my colleagues at the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC). Refugees do have rights and you cannot, just by mere facts of security, victimize an entire cadre of people who are legitimately in Kenya as refugees. You must accord them the rights that we accord people under the Constitution and under our international obligations. To simply vilify an entire community or group of people is not right. Registered refugees are here legally. If there is a failure on the part of the security agencies, it is for us to see how to strengthen the security of the country and not a blanket vilification or victimization of people. Regardless of their entry and exit into the refugee camps as provided by Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, the bottom line is to address the real issues surrounding the Kenyan citizens and their offspring. Kenyans should be restored with their privileges and have full rights as Kenyan citizens. The Constitution guarantees them and this Senate must uphold that. What this Motion intends to do is to urge the Government to fulfill its constitutional obligations to ensure that those who are Kenyans and are known, be compensated and be re-integrated back into the community so that they can fend for their families and themselves. Madam Temporary Speaker, I think we also need to interrogate some of these issues because we have also contributed to insecurity in some of these areas. Who says that the mere presence of refugees in itself contributes to insecurity? There are so many countries in this world that host refugees. It is the functions of underdevelopment. There is almost a direct correlation between development and security. Where there is less The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}