The order comes as a relief to Somalia as over 2 lakh Somalis are housed there.
A Kenyan court ruled on Thursday that the government must not close the world’s largest refugee camp and send more than 2,00,000 people back to war-torn Somalia.
This is a decision that eases pressure on Somalis who feared the camp would close by the end of May.
Kenya’s Internal Security Minister abused his power by ordering the closure of Dadaab camp, the court said.
Rights groups Amnesty International, Kituo cha Sheria and the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights had challenged the government’s order to close the camp.
The judge called the order discriminatory, saying it goes against the Kenyan constitution as well as international treaties that protect refugees against being returned to a conflict zone.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government has not proved Somalia is safe for the refugees to return, the judge has said, also calling the orders to shut down the government’s refugee department “null and void.”
Al Shabab & Somalia's Largest Camp: Know More- Somalia remains under threat of attacks from homegrown extremist group Al-Shabab.
- United States President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Somalia, had put added pressure on the Dadaab refugees.
- 140 of the Somali refugees, who had been on the brink of resettling in the U.S. were sent back to Dadaab instead.
- Said Abuka, a community leader in Nairobi and a refugee for 22 years, said the court ruling would help the Somali refugees.
- Newborn babies could not be registered as refugees because of the shutdown of Kenya’s refugee department, he said.
- Al-Shabab has carried out several attacks on Kenya, which sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight the militants.
- The attacks, include the September 2013 attack on Westgate mall that killed 67 people and the 2015 attack on Garissa University that killed 148 people, mostly students.
