Friday 11 April 2014

The crime of ethnicity: The plight of Somalis in Kenya

I am appalled, if not disgusted, by the way our security forces are treating Somalis at the moment. I understand that this crackdown is in a bid to curb the terror menace that our country has been facing. I understand that a crackdown of some sort is necessary for the safety of Kenyans. I understand that a crackdown on Somalis is what would be deemed as the proper channel to use seeing as Al-Shabaab are predominantly Somali .What I don’t understand is the need to denigrate Somalis, to this extent that they are being caged. I saw an image online of an old Somali woman caged and this created a rage in me. I felt so infuriated that another human being is being treated like this. I feel that arresting Somalis, extorting money from them for their freedom and other human rights abuses is just a scapegoat. What they are doing to Somalis is certainly not going to protect Kenyans.


I feel that a summary on Al Shabaab’s history and creation is needed. Just like the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) that has been causing distress and other human rights abuses in parts of Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR) and the DRC, Al-Shabaab emerged out of genuine grievances but later evolved into a terror group .When the groups stemmed up, they were indeed soldiers of the same struggle.  They were seeking to liberate their people. LRA came to be to liberate its people from internal circumstances. The people of Northern Uganda felt they were being marginalised. Northern Uganda is known for poverty. Since colonial days, economic power lay in the southern part of the country and so did the key political figures and the military elite. Al shabaab’s emergence was fuelled by patriotic militancy against the abrasive counter-insurgency tactics used by Ethiopian forces against the Islamic Courts Union, which was an upsurge of Islamic fundamentalism. They saw themselves as the liberators from the Western backed Transitional Federal Government. As it is with most groups that come up in this way, they both later started employing terror on people with other acts of violence and use religious fundamentalism as a mobilisation factor. We are all aware that we just need a common belief/ideology to mobilise people for a cause. Well, they have done just that. Used religion to garner troops and have created terror and fear amongst us. And now, in retaliation for Al Shabaab and other group’s acts of terror, our security forces are waging an unjust war against Somalis. The criteria for police screening is their ethnicity; that is their singular offence. I do support an operation that would rid the country of terrorists/criminals. Any sane person would, I mean, we are all tired of terror attacks on our land. What I don’t support is the manner in which it is being conducted. This operation is highly unlikely to rid us of those criminals we seek to sieve out. It is just a means for police to extort money from the criminals and many innocent.               


From the existing stereotype of Somalis, we may feel justified to cluster all Somalis as Shiftas, terrorists and Shabaab but this is wrong. These same Somalis have been terrorised by Al Shabaab in Somalia. These same Somalis are trying to eradicate Al Shabaab because it has a negative effect on their wellbeing, just as it does for all of us. They too are tired and want peace. Not all Somalis are terrorists/Al-Shabaab and we cannot deprive them of their right to be human! Is it that Somalis are perceived to be lesser citizens? Do Somalis have to keep suffering the same fate over and over again? Do we remember the Wagalla massacre in the North Eastern part of Kenya? Let me remind you. Since time immemorial, Somalis have had clan conflicts. This is the one of the main reasons for conflict in Somalia and even in our own North Eastern Kenya. So in 1984, Kenyan troops decided to go there and help diffuse these conflicts. What ensued was blood shed of Kenyans on Kenyan soil. Approximately 5,000 Somalis (the real figures have never been known) were denied water and food for days, raped before they were executed. In my opinion, this isn’t a war against terrorism. It is far from it! The poor Somalis are being taken to the Kasarani Concentration Camps (this term reminds me of the concentration camps that existed during the Holocaust) while Somalis with cash are paying their way out of it. So how do we know if that  person who is able to pay their way out of the concentration camp isn’t a sympathiser of Shabaab/terror groups? By the amount of cash they are willing to give to the security forces? Someone please tell me, how is this then a war against terrorism? If you tell someone you have bundled up into a lorry that if they give you a couple of thousand shillings they will be let free, how is this war against terror? Maybe a war against aliens or poor Somalis or people in limbo without refugee status but what war against terror is this? We are waging war on our own. For those without papers, I am not for this BUT who would want to live in a refugee camp where education doesn’t go beyond high school level? Like is inherent to all humans, they too yearn for a good life. Better than they have lived or their parents and relatives have had. Our borders are porous, not that it is any fault of the people who manage to walk into Kenya, so if they actually got access without any resistance at the border, it is our government that has erred and not those who sneak in. I understand that this too makes it easier for terrorists to come in. BUT if our borders weren’t so porous, then maybe we wouldn’t have Al Shabaab/terrorists infiltrating our country. If our security forces handled incidents like the West Gate attack with as much diligence as they are collecting money from these Somalis, maybe we wouldn’t have people dead. Are we forgetting that we have some Al Shabaab members called Omondi, Kamau, Mutiso, Kibet etc? It is largely Somalis but other people too have become members of this group. I am not pro Shabaab, please don’t get me wrong, but I don’t believe in taking people hostage due to their ethnicity or increased xenophobia and terming them all as terrorists. Being Somali is not a crime. They may be or may not be refugees. They may be or may not be citizens. But what they inherently are is HUMAN. 


Every waking moment, even I am scared of being in public places. When in a mall and lights go off, I feel petrified. But I don’t think it’s fair to blame this on Somalis. Even if some have refugee status, we have refugees all over the world and they are not all terrorists. They have been forced by circumstances to seek asylum elsewhere, somewhere safer. My opinion is that if this practice keeps going on, if people keep getting arrested for being Somali, even if they aren’t radicalised, if they go free, they will have been radicalised by default. Not because they want to, but because they have been forced to. When we demonize Somalis for being Somalis, we are in essence increasing radicalisation and not decreasing it. If that is the end goal that is trying to be achieved, then it may as well be seen as a failure. I mean, if you arrest and punish me for being a thief and I have never stolen in my life, I might as well steal to feel that I deserve such treatment.  Our war on terror is far from over. Not if these are the tactics. You are not beefing up security, you are terrorising people. Kenya needs to up its security tactics. Not by caging humans up at Kasarani “concentration camps" but by finding viable solutions to our security issues.

BONUS: A link to a pamphlet on what you should know when someone is arrested and how police are supposed to treat you.