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{
    "id": 513827,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/513827/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 173,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Okoth",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12482,
        "legal_name": "Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth",
        "slug": "kenneth-odhiambo-okoth"
    },
    "content": "When we first hosted Somalia refugees, we thought that it was a short term emergency and that refugees in Kenya from Somalia would be here for, maybe, a year or two before peace returned to their country. Clearly, what we are now facing is a protracted refugee situation where the third generation refugees are being born in our refugee camps, in places such as Dadaab. That encampment policy is not a very good idea. As a Member of the Human Rights Caucus of this House, I had the opportunity this weekend, together with my colleagues from Ol Jorok, Wajir South, Garissa County and Ndhiwa Constituency, to visit and see for ourselves first-hand what those camps look like in Dadaab, Garissa County. One of our key recommendations is that the camps have failed because of the inhumane conditions therein. With the third generation of Somali refugees being born there, we hope that Major- General Tumbo will focus on helping the Government of Somalia, the regional Governments and the Kenyan Government to figure out a comprehensive solution that could ensure that many Somali refugees in Kenya return voluntarily to a stable Somalia, so that they can re-start their lives in that country. However, there are those who cannot leave the camps and go back to Somalia because they do not feel safe. Many of them were born here and got married here too. There is a leadership discussion and engagement that must be heard in this country about offering them a path to citizenship very quickly. The camps are not sustainable. There is serious donor fatigue and major environmental destruction in the counties of Wajir and Garissa, where the 400,000 refugees are living in camps. They are residents there. The host communities told us that there are issues about depletion of the forests and water tables. We have to think about moving those refugees to a dignified place and allowing them to live in other parts of Kenya. For those who are law-abiding, we need to provide them a quick and clear path to Kenyan citizenship. For those who want to return to Somalia, they should do so voluntarily and to a peaceful and stable Somalia."
}