The Influence of the Kenyan Government Political Rhetoric on the Closure of Dadaab Refugee Camp on Refugees

In March of 2021, the Kenyan government made the announcement to close two of the largest refugee camps in Kenya with over 400,000 refugees streaming in from Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps. Just after this announcement, the UNHCR was given two weeks to generate a plan to make this decision a reality, in the end however, the refugee agency along with Kenyan Authorities came to the agreement in the hopes to have both camps to be closed down by June 30th, 2022, so to say, this did not transpire. According to Ombati, C (2022), within one year after the political rhetoric issued by the Kenyan Government in 2016, refugees have faced a slew of stressors such as the uncertainty over the camp’s future inevitably their own future and safety, limited funding due to the lack of clarity over the future of the camp’s future making it difficult to increase assistance for the refugees, creating a struggle to secure adequate funding for the camp and adding on additional stressors to the refugees such as food insecurity, unpreparedness to handle the drought impacting the camp, or the capability to take care of the increase in new arrivals. Over the past few years, the world has been faced with a refugee crisis that has worsened over the years to a level that has never been seen before over the previous decade, and with the number of refugees escalating at such a rapid rate, refugee camps are getting crowded. Mostly due the fact that people are making a livelihood inside these camps, leaving an impact on the nature of refugee camps. Within this Thesis the objectives discussed to guide this thesis aim to assess the reasons given by the Kenyan government to share this political rhetoric to close the Dadaab refugee camp, to examine the policy alternatives available should the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp occur and to examine how the political rhetoric of the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp has had an influence on refugees. The methodological approach used is quantitative and qualitative in nature with a descriptive research design. The primary sources of data collection used are through questionnaires and observation of documentations related to the project. Secondary sources used include literature on Dadaab refugee camp and the refugees within the camp. The data analysis applied was descriptive statistics analysis so as to best describe the information gathered in a way that would be much more summarized and simplified, showcasing the base features of the information obtained that would be required for this research to proceed. The theoretical assumptions used were the human rights theory and the liberal institutionalism theory that aim to expose the connection between Dadaab refugee camp and the influence of the political rhetoric of the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp has impacted refugees in Kenya. Refugee camps have come to be known as one of the most widespread and most common responses when it comes to tackling worldwide displacement. In spite of what number of scholars, activists, and humanitarians stating how refugee camps are unwelcome, and are only meant to be a temporary solution. The researcher discovered refugee camps have a number of reasons to close a refugee camp but the main one in regards to this paper is the high-risk potential of security risk. Granted the Dadaab refugee camp has become an open tap to the Kenyan economy, draining funds for the upkeep of the camp, Dadaab refugee camp has become an active economic hub adding to the economic growth of the country As the refugee camp faces the high potential to close, there have been durable solutions discussed, namely local integration, voluntary repatriation and resettlement each with their own benefits to the refugees this doesn’t however means that they are not any gaps in the solutions that will still leave the refugees at a disadvantage. Only by pushing for the improvement of the top nominated durable solutions with the refugee’s best interest at heart as a guide and making sure that refugee camps remain open not only keeps in alignment with the original commitment made to the UNHCR towards the protection of refugee but the refugees are given a clear and fair opportunity to move forward and work towards a better future for themselves free of discrimination and fear.