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{
    "id": 487920,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/487920/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 690,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mohamed Diriye",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2995,
        "legal_name": "Diriye Abdullahi Mohamed",
        "slug": "diriye-abdullahi-mohamed"
    },
    "content": "this discrimination continues even under the new Constitution. This is something which is very horrible. I appeal to my colleagues, hon. Members, to be awake to the fact that even when they were opposing the amendment--- We were not saying that Somali from Somalia should be given IDs. We are also not saying that refugees in the refugee camps, who are not Kenyans, should be given IDs. What we are saying is that we have a section of Kenyans who, due to poverty caused by drought, loss of their source of livelihood and their animals, which are all they have in this country, and there is a refugee camp nearby, go there, pose as refugees and register in order to get food. It is a shame that the Kenyan Government, wheich could not provide food and basic services to its citizens, denies them IDs. This is a basic entitlement. Our people have done nothing wrong; it is the Government that has failed. For example, when a petrol tanker pours fuel along the road, you see Kenyans scooping that fuel, yet they know the danger they are exposing themselves to. We have witnessed over the last few years Kenyans dying in large numbers when they try to draw fuel that pours on the road. They do this and risk their lives because they are poor. So, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this is the same way we have Kenyan Somalis who are genuine Kenyans, and who do not know anywhere else in this world apart from Kenya--- Because they are poor and the Government cannot provide for them, and also because they do not have alternatives, they are forced to go and register themselves as refugees. They then find themselves in the predicament of their fingers being captured in the data base of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). When they reach the age of 18 years they are denied identity cards. Right now they number thousands. What will be their fate? We are just inquiring and we want the help of other Members. What will be the fate of those Kenyans from my constituency, Wajir, Mandera and Garissa? What will be their fate? They are stateless. Imagine if this refugee camp in Dadaab is closed and the Somalis, Ethiopians and Sudanese who are there go back to their countries; where will my people go back to? They will be left stateless. I want to inform the Cabinet Secretary in charge and the President, who is the highest authority in this country, that we have problems due to marginalisation and deprivation. When your own entitlement is denied--- We fear that youths who are denied identity cards will go, register themselves and join the AlShabaab. Maybe that has happened. It is not our wish that they do that. We want to prevent the youth from joining Al Shabaab. However, by continuing to deny them identity cards just because they registered in the refugee data base of the UNHCR will make them pose as criminals and look for other means of earning a livelihood. They cannot study do business or seek help; they cannot even access a Government office. That means you basically put them in---"
}