The humiliation that comes with being a Somali in Kenya

Sunrise...Sunset....Sunrise....Sunset. 

From our vantage point, time moves forward linearly but the status of Somalis in Kenya is stuck in place.

Google Searches for the terms "Somali" "War" and "Terror" in Kenya Since 2010

I decided to look up the relative aggregate search popularity of the terms "Somali","War" and "Terror" in Kenya.

Here is the Graphic

Our Lame Media

Human beings have a noted bias towards those of their kind and creed. This explains why Kenya's media has been the equivalent of a Nazi propaganda machine when it comes to Kenya's war on Somalia.  The media has been forever overlooking the serious crimes the army has been accused of committing in anyplace it has ever been deployed to; be it Mount Elgon, Mandera and now Somalia.

I'm not sure if its tribal. Tribal loyalty mainly consists of judging people solely by which side they are on and if the coverage is anything to go by, the media has been nothing short of cheer-leader for this effort.

It's not so much as being patriotic, it's that they've been consistently pursuing hatred and bigotry against Somalis for half a decade now.

The media eschews fairness and accountability, writes editorial urging the government to invade Somalia and casts a blind-eye on all the shortcomings of the military and the political class. It's like they've been paid to shill for all that is bad about this country.

Joseph Goebbels' (Hitler's propaganda minister) infamous propaganda principles included this

"Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the target of hatred."


Clearly some at NTV, KTN and Citizen have been reading this.

I hope this instills some cognitive dissonance in you and makes you seek information from unbiased sources. What we have in Kenya is a sham hate mongering machine that masquerades as MEDIA.

Let's all pray for peace and brotherly love.

Competition for Resources between Somali Refugees at Dadaab & local Somali residents

The Standard | :: Somali refugees' tale of blood, sweat and tears

The Standard | Online Edition :: Somali refugees' tale of blood, sweat and tears

Somali refugees' tale of blood, sweat and tears

Updated 9 hr(s) 51 min(s) ago

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One hundred years of solitude and sufferance

'We have undergone untold suffering since our arrival'

By Amos Kareithi

Sitting on the barren ground and waving away dust swirling around her, Khadija Abdi Hajji patiently waits for the metal gates to open.

Hajji, 62, is in a group of Somalis who have just entered Kenya to escape years of violence in their country.

Travelling in a rickety van, they are lucky to have made it safely to the sprawling Ifo refugee camp in Garissa. As the van comes to a stop and gates to the camp are swung open, a stream of haggard looking women and children disembark.

Newly-arrived refugees rest as they wait to be registered at the Ifo camp in northern Kenya.

"I fled from my home in Kismayu last week. I will never go back ," she declares.

For months, she persevered as ten of her close relatives were gunned down by Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group that controls swathes of Somalia.

"A few weeks ago, a group of youths stopped me and decreed that the material of my bui bui (veil worn by Muslim women) was not heavy enough. They arrested and locked me up for hours," Khadija recalls.

After three more arrests and whipping, she sold all her belongings and headed for Kenya.

As she waits to be registered, she is living at Ifo, one of three camps which make up Daadab.

The other two are Dagahaley and Hagadera.

If she is lucky, Khadija will join an estimated 271,000 of her countrymen and women who are currently residing in the camps. The entire settlement has a population of 289,000 souls.

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the fighting in Somalia has caused a steady flow of people into Kenya. More than 1,000 Somalis are arriving in the camps weekly.

The UN body said this year alone, more than 37,000 people have crossed the border into the camps.

However, conditions at the camps are deplorable. Firewood supply is rapidly diminishing, posing unprecedented problems to UNHCR, which has ran out cash.

Cultural practices

UNHCR’s spokesman Mr Emanuel Nyabera says the camps are congested as they were originally meant to accommodate only 90,000 people.

"We are having a serious problem as we can no longer cope with the high number of refugees coming in," Nyabera explains.

In handouts to journalists, the organisation said maternal mortality was high, with 298 deaths per 100,000 people.

"Cultural practices commonly prevent women receiving the appropriate care in a timely manner. For instance, caesarean birth is usually not accepted and as a result, many women die because of breech babies," it said.

Awareness about HIV/Aids is low, and few know how to protect themselves from infection. Poor sanitation also exposes refugees to disease as there is a shortage of 39,000 toilets.

A child prepares a meal for her family at Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana Photos: Amos Kareithi Thuku/Standard

So grim is the picture that the UNHCR chief executive, Antonio Guterres jetted into the country last week to assess the situation.

After being conducted round Ifo, Guterres expressed dismay at the conditions there.

Hovels dot all the major roads leading in and out of Ifo. Every available space has been taken over by shanties.

Cases of sexual violence have also been reported.

"We have not been able to offer dignified services to the refugees here," Guterres comments.

Tired of waiting to be allotted spaces to erect their tents, some refugees have resorted to grabbing available space.

Somalis say they are tired of atrocities committed by Al-Shabaab. Last month, the insurgents attacked a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, and killed up to 30 people, including six MPs.

Expansion

During a meeting with refugee representatives, Guterres was shocked to learn that some people had been exploiting the refugees by charging fees for services that should be free.

However, there is a glimmer of hope following several projects aimed at making life better.

A new expansion phase has started. Several boreholes have been sunk and a school is under construction.

Once complete in a few months, the new phase will accommodate an additional 80,000 people. However, this is still not enough.

As busloads of desperate refugees arrive daily, Somalis who have been at Dadaab for more than 20 years are longing for peace in their country.

Kenyan Refugee Camp Turns to Green Solutions - webcastr.com

Kenyan Refugee Camp Turns to Green Solutions - webcastr.com

The Standard | Online Edition :: UN alarmed at plight of Somali asylum seekers

The Standard | Online Edition :: UN alarmed at plight of Somali asylum seekers

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By Amos Kareithi

The international community should not ignore thousands of Somali nationals fleeing their war torn country, a UN official has warned.

High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres at the same time said they have been overwhelmed by the outflow of asylum seekers fleeing to Kenya from Somalia.

"We are doing the best, but our best is not enough for Somali refugees. We need to do more but we do not have resources," he said.

During a visit to Kenya, which took him to Kakuma and Daadab refugee camps, Guterres said there have been attempts by some countries to block or discriminate against Somalis.

slammed doors

Kakuma and Daadab camps remain overwhelmed by refugee number. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

"The anxiety expressed by Somalis is justified. Doors are being slammed. Please do not send them to their country as they are likely to be persecuted," Guterres said.

He said more than 20 years after anarchy broke out in Somalia, the flow of victims from endless war still continued.

Although he declined to give names, the High Commissioner said he was disheartened by some European countries for reportedly discriminating against Somalis.

He said although the UNHCR had made 128,000 submissions for relocation, only 80,000 have been successful, representing a meager one per cent of refugees.

While pressing the international community to do more to bring peace to Somalia, Gurretes said: "There is no evil without an end and there is no good thing, which will not end one day. One day the evil war in Somalia will end. Nothing lasts forever."

At Daadab, he expressed shock at the congestion in the refugee camp, which now has 287,000 refugees.

He ruled out closing of Kakuma camp, which was being used for relocation to decongest Daadab.

At the same time, Dadaab, he said, was being expanded to accommodate a further 40,000 asylum seekers.

Immigration Assistant Minister Francis Baya said the Government was planning to create a better reception centre near Kenya-Somalia border to screen refugees.

On Sudan, the commissioner said although 38,000 refugees had been repatriated following the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, tension still reigned.

"We are still receiving refugees from Sudan especially from Darfur region. We appeal to all the parties in Sudan to respect the outcome of the coming referendum," he said.

KTN and the latest in Somaliphobia: brought to you by Mohammed Ali and his sidekick (D.Onsarigo) )

We all know that KTN is a vile propagandist machine that serves up hatred towards Somalis and Muslims in Kenya. Its the enemy of honesty and dignity and the biggest proponent of selfishness and class. In short KTN is the quintessence of unfairness, bigotry and marginalization. This Channel has a well known track record in peddling all sorts of lies and myths about Somalis. It has no respect for journalistic integrity and code.

This evil empire disguised as a media institution propagates the notion that Somalis are laundering billions of shillings in to the kenyan economy. That the inflation in our size is directly attributed to illegal aliens buying Kenyan Identity cards without providing any evidence to that effect. It has been the architect behind the bogus lie that the rise in Property prices in Nairobi and other cities is directly attributable to Somali money and influence.  And numerous other unfounded distortions that can be refuted by the click of a mouse.

After all of that, you would think this channel has sunk to a  journalistic low...boy, u are so wrong! These classless minions have now reached the epitome of lowness and are proudly swimming in the sewer of filth and dirt.

Recently Mohammed Ali and his sidekick have been busy" unearthing " a scheme by Somalis to take over Kenya by bringing all their brethren from Som to Kenya's borders. Now I have no problem with investigative journalism per se but somewhere in Kenya, a police officer is shooting a civilian or sticking a shiv into a witness , or someone is defrauding an orphan or a politician is arming his tribe for the coming Armageddon (remeber 2007) yet these vagabonds don't think that's worthy of investigation. They think ostracizing Somalis, who have been for decades victims of abuse and crimes by the state, will attract more eyeballs to their almost defunct station.

Mohammed Ali is a well known sociopath with delusions of grandeur. His sidekick is..well,  really just a sidekick. These two self aggrandizing lowlifes have been spreading fear in Nep and scaring the rest of the ignorant Kenyan masses.

As a muslim and a somali Kenyan I was troubled by the sight of aging Somali women  in the midst of their fast being chased on a thorny and an unforgiving landscape by two primates  pretending to be Police officers. Seriously, these two clowns have no jurisdiction under international or local law to question refugees or harass women especially in the midst of the holy month of Ramadan.

I called a bunch of my friends who are involved in the "mbuzi" industry (Zafex) and asked if they knew "Macho" the traitor or any of the people on the video. Luckily, we tracked down one of the women who were being chased that day. She is lives in Dagahley and wanted to come to Garissa for medical reasons. Neither the Kenyan government nor the UN would give her travel permits, so she did the only thing any of us would, under the same circumstances. She took matters into her own hands.

As Somali Kenyans, we have come a long way and climbed many mountains to gain our freedoms to just let them be trampled upon by corrupt officers or  less so a hostile mouthpiece of an adversarial TV station. As these two evil twins wrap up their rants and distortions, its upto the rest us peace loving northerners to stand up for our rights and those of the over exploited refugees.

I hate human traffickers as much as- if not more than- KTN. They mistreat people, plunder their wealth and subject them to subhuman treatment. This cannot be blamed solely on them. The Police and Immigration officers are responsible for this. The government is responsible for this too. There should be away for People fleeing the terrible situation in Somalia to find peace and live in dignity in Kenya.

We cannot remain blissful idiots who can rationalize anything.  Lets remember Marting Niemoller's  famous poem about Nazi Germany:

"

They came first for the Communists,and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up."

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo