Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Kenya

By Zahra Rashid December, 21 2012 Nairobi, Kenya - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is in Kenya on a two-day official visit. The President, accompanied by senior officials from his government, was received by his Kenyan counterpart Mwai Kibaki. Mr Mohamud’s visit come two days after the Kenyan government had ordered all refugees and asylum seekers out of urban areas in a move to boost security in the country., with those from Somalia asked to report to the Dadaab camp. Acting Commissioner for Refugee Affairs Badu Katelo placed the public notice in newspapers, adding that the registration of new refugees had been stopped. He added that the Kakuma camp is currently holding 80,000 and there were fears that the 90,000-capacity Dadaab housing 90,000 refugees and asylum seekers. “There are fears that the two camps would be overstretched if all the 450,000 Somalis registered by UNHCR to be residing in Kenya moved here,” He said. On Wednesday the Human rights activists and refugee agencies criticized the drastic move of stopping all direct services that were being offered in the urban areas by relief agencies. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), two days ago promised to continue offering services to the refugees in urban centers despite the government’s directive to stop the registration. The UNHCR spokes man Mr. Emmanuel Nyabera stated that UNHCR will continue providing services such as registration of refugees in urban areas, provision of healthcare support to dispensaries that serve refugees in urban areas. Even so the UNHCR has also raised concern that the decision would lead to more overcrowding of the refugee camps in northern Kenya. Though there has been no official response from the Somalia over the matter, former Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Ali has cautioned Kenya against making a hasty policy. Sources close to the President Mohamud said that the head of state has been keenly following the security situation in the country and even sent a message of condolence to the families of those who died in a blast in Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate early this month. The Somali president was accompanied by his deputy Prime Minister and minister of Foreign Affairs Fowsiya Aden and ministers Abdulkareem Guled, Abdullahi Elmooge and Farah Sheikh. [email protected] Nairobi,Kenya

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