VZCZCXRO6340
RR RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNR #2441/01 3020857
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 280857Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7402
INFO RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 002441 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E AND A/S FRAZER 
ALSO FOR PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PREF EAID SO KE
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - REFUGEES SWELL DADAAB CAMPS 
 
REF: ADDIS ABABA 2646 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: The arrival of 45,000 new Somali 
refugees since January 2008 to the three Dadaab refugee 
camps in Eastern Kenya has exacerbated tensions between 
the local community and the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) over jobs, service 
contracts and the environmental degradation caused by the 
refugees. UNHCR believes local politicians are stoking the 
tensions and that unless UNHCR can relieve severe 
overcrowding in the Dadaab camps further deterioration 
between UNHCR and the local community could result.  UNHCR 
is concerned about a growing intolerance to refugees by 
host community members and the security challenges posed 
by the presence of asylum seekers with ties to various 
Somali political groups in the camps.  End Summary. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
New Arrivals Exceed Available Services 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Originally built in the early 1990s to house 
30,000 refugees each, the three Dadaab refugee camps (Ifo, 
Dagahaley and Hagadera) have, by September 2008, swelled 
to more than 215,000 refugees.  By September 15, UNHCR 
reported registering 45,911 new refugees into the camps so 
far this year (a 25 percent overall increase in the camps 
since January), with the overwhelming majority of new 
arrivals being Somalis from South/Central Somalia.  UNHCR 
estimates the camp's population could grow to 240,000 by 
the end of the year if the current rate of increase is 
maintained.  With a maximum capacity to register 450-500 
new arrivals per day, UNHCR estimates that more than 6,000 
asylum seekers remain unregistered and waiting for 
authorization to enter the camps. New arrivals currently 
receive a future registration appointment date with UNHCR 
(currently about a one month wait), a food packet, and are 
put on a list for future food distributions. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Because of the lack of space for new arrivals, 
UNHCR is unable to allocate plots for them to construct 
shelters and is instead directing new arrivals to locate 
and move in with family or clan members who are already in 
the camps.  Non-food items (NFIs) are also in extremely 
short supply with only the most vulnerable new arrivals 
(female-headed households, families with severe medical 
needs, families without relatives or clan members in the 
camps, etc.) receiving plastic sheeting, mats and cooking 
utensils. UNHCR reports WFP currently has sufficient food 
stocks to add new arrivals to bi-weekly food distribution 
lists.  The severe over-crowding in the camps increases 
the risk of transmitting contagious diseases (polio, MDR 
TB and measles have all been reported among the new 
arrivals).  UNHCR is concerned that the annual cholera 
out-break associated with the beginning of the short rainy 
season in October could be especially severe this year. 
 
--------------------------- 
Tensions Over A Fourth Camp 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In September, UNHCR reported it had reached an 
agreement with the Fafi district political and community 
leaders on 2,500 hectares for a fourth camp (Note: UNHCR 
had requested 10,000 hectares with the intent of 
constructing three additional camps).  In return for the 
land, UNHCR agreed to build an office and house for the 
District Officer, to open a UNHCR office in Fafi district 
and to re-write their firewood collection contracts so 
firewood will be sought outside Fafi District. UNHCR 
believes word of this agreement angered Farah Maalim, the 
Member of Parliament (MP) of Lagadera District, with whom 
it had also been negotiating for additional land.  Maalim 
has been a persistently harsh critic of UNHCR and the 
refugees in Dadaab (Note: UNHCR's main compound in Dadaab 
housing UNHCR and NGO operations and staff is located in 
Lagadera district, as are Ifo and Dagahaley refugee 
camps). 
 
¶5.  (SBU) UNHCR believes MP Maalim provoked demonstrations 
by about 100 local women and children outside UNHCR's 
Dadaab compound the week of September 29 which resulted in 
stones thrown at UN vehicles (WFP reported having the 
windshield of one vehicle was damaged) and the injury of 
two demonstrators by a tear gas canister police used to 
disperse the crowd.  When UNHCR requested that a committee 
of community leaders be formed to discuss their concerns, 
UNHCR was, instead, handed a letter, which UNHCR believes 
 
NAIROBI 00002441  002 OF 003 
 
 
was written by representatives of Maalim, outlining the 
communities' demands: the relocation of the refugees away 
from Dadaab and, if that was not possible, the 
construction of a fence around Ifo and Dagahaley camps 
confining all refugees and their livestock to the camps; 
dismissal of all non-local Kenyan staff and replacement 
with "Dadaabians" by October 31; restriction of trucks 
over 10 metric tons from using local roads to deliver food 
and non-food items; implementation of an environmental 
audit; and, the creation of a regional development plan. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The uncompromising tone of the letter, the 
demonstration of locals outside UNHCR headquarters that 
disrupted operations for almost one week, and Maalim's 
declared intention to return to Dadaab in late October 
with the Minister of Arid Lands has alarmed UNHCR.  UNHCR 
is concerned that the Dadaab communities' traditional 
tolerance demonstrated towards refugees is being 
manipulated by local politicians and could deteriorate 
further while UNHCR is struggling to accommodate growing 
numbers of refugees. UNHCR fears that Maalim's stoking of 
community intolerance and hostility has the potential to 
jeopardize the delivery of relief supplies and the 
restrict ability of international humanitarian agencies to 
operate in the camps.  UNHCR is also concerned that the 
escalation in tensions could lead to attacks on refugees 
and that increasingly restrictive limits on refugee 
movements could compound the stress refugees already 
experience due to overcrowded conditions. 
 
----------------------- 
Other Security Concerns 
----------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) UNHCR has maintained a collaborative working 
relationship with Government of Kenya (GOK) security and 
police officials. GOK officials are taking fingerprints of 
all new arrivals at the time of registration.  GOK 
security officials are present in the camps and 
occasionally arrest refugees suspected of engaging in 
combatant activities inside Somalia (Note: UNHCR is able 
to visit detained or arrested refugees).  UNHCR has told 
us the GOK has is concerned that the camp's medical 
facilities may be treating combatants along with asylum 
seekers injured inside Somalia.  GOK security officials 
are now insisting that any refugee seeking medical 
treatment for a war wound (gunshot or shrapnel injury) be 
transported and treated at Garissa hospital.  GTZ, the 
German NGO operating the camp's medical centers, and UNHCR 
report that at least 19 asylum seekers had been treated 
for war wounds between July and September. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Since the closing of the Liboi transit center 
earlier this year, UNHCR has not been able to screen 
asylum seekers other than at the Dagahaley Registration 
Center. The inability to screen asylum-seekers thoroughly 
before they enter the camp, and the lack of information 
about officials of the Transitional Federal Government 
(TFG) and other organizations party to the Somali conflict 
has led UNHCR to admit some individuals to the camps 
despite the security concerns posed by their presence in 
the camps.  UNHCR currently believes at least 16 former 
TFG officials reside in the camp or are awaiting entry to 
the camp.  While no threats or security incidents have 
emerged so far, UNHCR is concerned that any incident - 
such as an assassination - of a former TFG official in the 
camp could inflame the refugees' political sentiments and 
result in the politicization of the refugee population, 
with potentially violent results.  UNHCR is considering 
relocating the former TFG officials to Nairobi or Kakuma 
to mitigate this risk. (Note: Members of Post's Somalia 
Unit and Military Information Support Team members 
met with UNHCR on October 17 to exchange information on 
developments inside Somalia that could impact UNHCR Dadaab 
operations. UNHCR has subsequently passed on the names of 
identified or suspected TFG officials in the camps to the 
Somalia Unit for any additional information that might 
prove useful to UNHCR in determining the individual's 
claim to asylum). 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Although UNHCR can not confirm the presence of 
ICU (Islamic Courts Union) members, Bud Crandell, the CARE 
Country Director, reports that ICU members are in the 
camps and recruitment is occurring.  According to 
Crandell, members of the ICU are offering refugees a 
salary of $300/month to join them and return to Somalia to 
fight the TFG.  Religious schools teaching the basics of 
Islam have become more noticeable in the camps, according 
 
NAIROBI 00002441  003 OF 003 
 
 
to UNHCR.  However, the schools' proliferation is due more 
to the lack of formal educational opportunities than to a 
growth in religious sentiment.  UNHCR does not believe 
there has been any increase in more formalized madrassas 
within the camps. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The continued influx of refugees in already 
overcrowded camps, host community demonstrations 
restricting UNHCR's operations, and the representatives of 
parties to the Somali conflict in the camps are 
compounding the stress on UNHCR, the refugees, and host 
communities.  UNHCR recognizes there are valid reasons for 
Kenyan resentment toward the rapidly increasing refugee 
population.  However, Maalim's stoking of community 
antagonism towards the UN and the un-compromising threats 
to UNHCR's efforts on behalf of the refugees, only make 
more difficult the search for ways to decongest the Dadaab 
camps.  End Comment. 
 
RANNEBERGER