Kenyan police nab 7 refugees over terror links, human trafficking

Kenyan authorities said Wednesday they are holding seven Somali refugees for hosting Al-Shabaab terrorists and human trafficking at the Dadaab refugee camp in northeast region.

A regional government official Mohamed Saleh said the suspects who are kingpins of human trafficking through the refugee complex were arrested during a joint security operation conducted on Tuesday at the sprawling camp.

"The suspects have been facilitating refugees to move to Nairobi for documents to enable them to move to Europe and Canada. The suspects have also been hosting terrorists at the camp," Saleh said in Garissa.

He said the suspects have also been linked to the syndicate in the complex that facilitates Al-Shabaab activities in the world's largest refugee camp in northeast Kenya.

Saleh said the court has granted the police ten days to continue holding Bartie Mohamed Kalif, Ahmed Abdi Mohamud, Omar Mohamed Kalif, Bare Hussein Mahat, Shamsudin Dubow, Nasra Abdi Noor and Anab Mohammed Mahamud as investigations are done before they can take a plea in court.

"The human trafficking is for Somalis who they bring into the country and acquire fake documents and then they find their way either into our country or proceed to Europe or Canada as Kenyans," Saleh said.

The immigrants are said to be using Kenya as their transit route to other countries such as South Africa or other European countries.

The Kenyan authorities have blamed the vastness of the region for the runaway influx of foreigners into Kenya through the porous border with Somalia.

Several aliens from Somalia have managed to sneak in the county with the help of brokers after paying hundreds of shillings.

But refugee rights organizations and aid agencies have blamed poverty in Africa for the rising cases of human trafficking.

They said that the huge supply of labour both skilled and unskilled makes them vulnerable to criminal syndicates.

Kenyan authorities have also blamed the militants for being behind spates of kidnapping of expatriates working in the sprawling refugee camps in the incursion-prone northern region and tourists in the coastal archipelago towns of Mombasa and Lamu.

Analysts say refugee camps often do pose security challenges for host countries. Armed groups throughout the world have used them for recruits, shelter, and food, and it is likely Al-Shabaab does the same. Endit