Thursday, January 12, 2017
By STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Kenyans whose fingerprints appear in the UNHCR at the Garissa sub-county district office wait for their turn to be vetted on Wednesday.
Kenyans whose fingerprints appear in the UNHCR database now have two more weeks to undergo vetting to prove their nationality.
Kenyans hard hit by drought in the early 90s registered with UNHCR as refugees to receive food aid and other supplies. Others registered as refugees to be relocated to Europe in the third party repatriation programme.
The vetting comes as the government plans to close the Dadaab refugee camp in six months and repatriate Somali refugees to their country. Those who changed their status have to prove they are indeed from the country to stay on when the others are sent back home.
"As we approached the end of the exercise, we realised the number of those seeking the service was growing by the day and we could not have completed the exercise within a month. As we speak, we have managed nearly half of the applicants," Garissa county commissioner James Kianda said.
The 'Kenyans' are vetted by subcounty security committees. The exercise will go on till January 21, Interior Joseph Nkaissery announced. It is taking place countrywide.
The Garissa security and intelligence committee, through regional coordinator Mohamud Saleh, asked for the extension because a higher number than was expected had turned up.
Although the political class claim that Kenyans affected are over 150,000 government the regional coordinator puts the figure at between 10,000 and 15,000.