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{
    "id": 426616,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/426616/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 262,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Abdi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 398,
        "legal_name": "Yusuf Hassan Abdi",
        "slug": "yusuf-hassan-abdi"
    },
    "content": "The Committee is a little bit late because I have already heard the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Co-ordination of National Government saying that the two camps have been closed. I thought they did not exist anymore. If the Cabinet Secretary concerned has already told us that those camps are closed, I assume that they were closed; the reality is that there are 500,000 in those refugee camps. Where will they go? Somalia is at war and they are victims of the Al Shabaab themselves. We are signatories, as some of the Members have mentioned, to international laws governing refugees; to a certain extent, I do not see anywhere in this Report a justification that the refugees whom we have been hosting for 22 years can be entirely blamed for terrorist attacks that are taking place in our streets. The law clearly provides that if a refugee is a criminal, they should be taken to court. If a refugee is identified as a terrorist, he or she should be taken to court. Therefore, this is like throwing the baby with the bath water, in the sense that refugees are themselves victims. They are women and children. We have given them humanitarian sanctuary here in our country, and we work with other international organizations to assist them. There is no purpose that would be served by closing refugee camps today or tomorrow unless there is peace in their country. We can put a lot of emphasis on working together with the people of Somalia, the African Union and the international community to ensure that refugees go back to a sustainable environment and live in peace. At the moment, the idea of closing two major camps is unrealistic. We should not deceive our population because those people will just melt into the general population in northern Kenya and other parts of our country without leaving behind any documentation for reference. If there are criminal elements, they should be dealt with according to our laws. I must say that I like the fact that the Report touches on radicalization, although it does not emphasize it. First, I want to tell you that we are facing very serious radicalization in our country. The Report says that Kenyan Muslims are increasingly being radicalized. It also says that more than 500 Kenyans have been trained by AlShabaab and have returned home. Now we have a very serious problem here. We are saying that in the next few months or years, we are not going to look for enemies from outside our country; we will have homegrown radical youth who will attack us. This is The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}