Dear Kanere community here & abroad,
Foremost, it’s with great enthusiasm that we announce that Kakuma News Reflector (or KANERE) has obtained its registration status as a national Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Kenya. KANERE strongly welcomes further collaboration from all the Government Departments within Turkana County, the Department of Refugee Affairs, the UNHCR Head of Sub-Office and other humanitarian agencies in Kakuma.
Currently, Kanere is being published on quarterly basis until better funding is available for a monthly or a more regular publication. In this issue, we discuss different patterns of news and incidents that took place inside and outside the refugee camp that affected the refugees in Kenya.
In the camp, some sad news concerned the inter-communal conflicts which persisted inside the camp. In the month of September inter-communal fights escalated between Nuer and Gambella-Anyuak where more than twenty people sustained injuries. However, in the middle of this year at least eight people were killed in the similar violence in the camp, a story featured in this edition.
Food rations were reduced, while since October collection of food in every distribution in Kakuma and Dadaab Complex has been based on an online fingerprinting system. This move has caused instability and alarm to the beneficiaries of food aid. According to the refugee communities, the introduction of “No match no food” in the bio-metric food collection system was largely opposed, but the World Food Program (WFP) stated that the move was to enhance transparency and accountability in food distribution and monitoring.
In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, the Westgate terror attack had negative implications for refugees. The Kenya security machinery had to crack down in Kenya’s metropolis and major cities in the hunt for possible culprits, leading to arbitrary arrest and detentions of innocent refugees.
Following this insecurity, pressure has mounted in Kenya to close refugee camps and to return all Somali refugees to Mogadishu. The Governments of Kenya and Somalia have since worked closely with the UNHCR, establishing a Tripartite Commission on Standards and Procedures of voluntary repatriation for Somalis that was signed in Nairobi on Sunday 10 November, 2013.
However, since the Tripartite Commission was set up, xenophobia against Somali refugees has been on the rise both in camps and urban areas.
Nonetheless, the first (2010) Cohort to study in the Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins online learning program received their Diplomas in Liberal Studies at a graduation ceremony at the Arrupe learning center.
On the international scene, Italy declared a national day of mourning after a boat packed with African migrants caught fire and sank off the island of Lampedusa, killing at least 300 people in October alone.
As an independent refugee media organization, Kanere seeks support and welcomes funding and material support from the UNHCR and any interested donors, either local or at the international level.
Have a wonderful day,
Signed,
Qaabata Boru
Editorial Executive – Kanere