Refugees shared their views on the question of the Southern Sudan Referendum—vote for unity or break away?
A confusing process of verification leads some scholarship candidates to worry for their futures.
Several isolated incidents of violence challenged the peace in Kakuma Camp.
Extreme dust storms fed the blazing flames that erupted from a house in Kakuma One.
The Southern Sudan Referendum spread across 8 polling stations in 3 provinces in Kenya, with Kakuma figuring as a major voting center.
The International Rescue Committee and Kituo Cha Sheria raise concern about indiscriminate arrests and harassment in Kenya’s crackdown on refugees – Press Release forwarded by KANERE.
A fatal accident on the Lodwar-Kakuma highway results in one death and five injured.
Categories
Letter from the Editor
2010-11 Winter Quarterly (November-December-January)
To all KANERE readers here and abroad:
In the life of journals KANERE turned its second year in December 2010, and its writers continue to stand strong in advocating for refugees. This quarterly winter issue marks the last news dispatches from the year 2010 and early 2011.
We send our wishes for a pleasant 2011 to all our readers, supporters and criticizers, wherever you may be. We would like to send note of thanks to all our readers and supporters throughout the last year and to encourage you to continue with us in the same spirit this year.
While life in the camp has seen little change over the past three months, the Sudanese Referendum marked a defining moment for Sudan. It is a real test for many Southerners worried about their relatives who live on both sides of the North and South. Everyone is thinking: unity or break away? Kakuma was cited as a major voting centre in the Rift Valley Province.
Numerous incidents of violence punctuated the holiday season as refugees were reported dead on the outskirts of camp or in their own homes. In early January 2011, a fire erupted in the refugee community of Kakuma One, sending several refugees to the hospital and destroying properties valued at hundreds of thousands Kenya shillings.
Human right organizations have released alarming reports on protracted refugee situations, calling attention to serious harassment and rights violations of refugees and asylum seekers in their countries of asylum. According to an Amnesty International report released in December 2010, the harassment of Somali refugees by Kenyan police and soldiers has reached intolerable levels.
The weather in Kakuma and its surrounding environs during the past three months remained dry and sunny characterized by cold nights.
As we speak in a louder voice, we appeal for better protection of refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya and urge an end to encampment policy! We wish a peaceful environment in Southern Sudan.
Signed,
KANERE Editor
2010-11 Winter Quarterly Issue
“My vote is to separate so that South Sudan can stand and rule itself. This is where I belong since before the coming of the Arabs. I better go back to cultivate crops than live this life at the camp.”
– T.M.G., on the South Sudan Referendum
“I ask and encourage our people to come out and vote. It’s clear to say that history has shown the New Identity. We don’t hate the North. We can take the control of our Nation. We can make, break and divide our country. ”
-Philip Deng, SSRC Representative in Kenya on the South Sudan Referendum
“It is not acceptable to kill a friend just for single quarrels. Young men in these communities walk with short knives in their pockets.”
-Refugee community leader on new forms of violence in Kakuma Camp
“We have many disabled and elderly people in this community, but they were not even counted yet. Some of them do not even know their own registration numbers scheduled by the UNHCR on the notice boards.”
-Refugee leader in Zone Five, on problems with the UNHCR verification exercise
“One died and five were injured, but I cannot give names of the passengers encountered in the accident without authorization from the IRC Program Coordinator.”
-IRC National staff during an interview over fatal road accident
“We could not manage to put out the fire. We had plenty of water flowing for four hours over the normal circumstances, and we thank the LWF water department.”
-A.A., eye witness to the blaze that consumed a neighborhood group in Kakuma One
“We need scholarship, but not our location to be known to the Ethiopian Embassy. I wonder if that is what UNHCR should do.”
-Ethiopian Oromo student regarding a scholarship opportunity with mixed benefits
A new Kakuma verification exercise began in mid-November and still continues.