Kenya tensions spark Somali refugee flight

[Daqane]

Several thousand Somalis have fled Kenya in the last two months because of what they call a climate of xenophobia.

 

 

 

By James Reinl

Friday, February 08, 2013

 

 

 

Nairobi, Kenya - The shopping malls and market stands of a Somali-dominated suburb in eastern Nairobi have been quieter than usual.

 

Taxi drivers in Eastleigh, a lucrative trade hub known locally as "Little Mogadishu", say business is drying up as Somalis leave Kenya to return home.

 

Somali refugees say they are harassed by Kenyan police, and wrongfully blamed for a wave of attacks that have shaken Kenya in recent months.

 

"People here are scared," says Jayhan Mohamed, a refugee in Eastleigh who fled a forced marriage and daily gunfights in the war-ravaged Somali capital, Mogadishu, with her baby son four years ago.

 

"Somalis are attacked in their shops and homes. Police are going into houses, demanding money. Some people have been forced to sell their jewellery just to buy their way out of the police station.

 

"Many are running away from Kenya, going back home to a country without security rather than stay here."

 

The United Nation's refugee agency, UNHCR, says the 13 weekly flights from Nairobi to Mogadishu are packed with returning Somalis. According to Dr Ibrahim Farah, a Somali lecturer at Nairobi University, 6,000 Somali families have left Kenya since the country announced a clampdown on refugees and asylum seekers at the end of last year.

 

Half a million refugees

 

East Africa's biggest economy is home to some half a million registered Somali refugees, although aid agencies believe that the real number is much higher.

 

About 450,000 live in the sprawling, overcrowded and sun-baked camps at Dadaab, close to the Somali border.

 

Kenya has suffered a wave of kidnappings, grenade and gun attacks in Dadaab, Eastleigh and Garissa, ever since Kenyan forces launched an offensive against hard-line armed group al-Shabab in south Somalia at the end of 2011.

 

In Garissa, a Kenyan town close to the Somali border, gunmen have opened fire on worshippers in churches. Grenades are regularly flung at mosques and mini-buses in Eastleigh, splattering walls and windows with victims' blood.

 

Kenyan police and soldiers have also been targeted and killed. In December, a hand-grenade raid claimed five lives and injured Yusuf Hassan, an ethnic Somali politician.

 

In a statement, Kenyan refugee officials warned of "rampant insecurity" and an "unbearable and uncontrollable threat" that must be contained.

 

Kenyan security forces blame attacks on sympathisers of al-Shabab, a group with known links to al-Qaeda and ambitions to rule Somalia.

 

Kenyan officials plan to round-up 34,000 Somali refugees and asylum seekers in Eastleigh and other urban areas, and hold them in a football stadium north of Nairobi.

 

Somali refugees will then be sent to Dadaab, one of the world's biggest refugee centres, which is known for its insecurity, mosquitoes and desert scorpions.

 

"Some of these people have lived in Kenya for two decades," added Mohamed, 20. "They speak good Swahili and English, have children at school, own businesses, homes and study at universities."

 

Police harassment

 

Human Rights Watch and other agencies accuse Kenyan officials of "stigmatisation", and have documented 300 cases of police harassing Somali refugees last year alone.

 

Farah Maalim, an ethnic Somali politician in Kenya, says "Eastleigh has become an ATM" for police officers wanting to make quick cash.

 

The Refugee Consortium of Kenya, a group that is challenging the government's refugee round-up in Kenya's courts, says the government is violating the Kenyan constitution and international conventions on refugees. The next hearing is set for February 4.

 

"You can't castigate an entire community. You can't blame all Somali refugees for the attacks," said Leila Waithira, a lawyer for the consortium. "If members of a community are responsible, then the security services should deal with those individuals."

 

Human Rights Watch has also said that there is little evidence to connect the bombings and shootings with Somali refugees.

 

Many victims of attacks have been ethnic Somalis, and those arrested include Yemenis and members of Kenya's ethnic Somali population.

 

While there are a number of theories about who's behind the attacks, the most common explanation is that al-Shabab fighters and sympathisers are retaliating for Kenya's ongoing presence in southern Somalia.

 

Another is that al-Qaeda agents are trying to drive a wedge between Kenya's ethnic and religious groups, or that Somali inter-clan feuds are spilling over. For their part, many Somali refugees accuse Kenyan security agents of carrying out attacks to spur an anti-Somali backlash.

 

Refugee roundup

 

While UNHCR has praised Kenya for hosting such a large number of refugees, who have fled conflict and instability in Somalia and other African hotspots, many Kenyans see the refugees as a problem. In November, rioters attacked ethnic Somalis in Eastleigh after a bomb attack that killed nine people.

 

Wasia Masitsa, a migration expert for the legal rights group Kituo Cha Sheria, said the refugee roundup is popular among Kenyans.

 

"It is taking place under a highly charged xenophobic environment and a feeling that Somalis are responsible for the insecurity," he told Al Jazeera.

 

The policy is likely to appeal to voters ahead of presidential elections scheduled to take place on March 4, he said.

 

"There is a feeling that Somalis are slowly colonising the country," he added. "That they are buying up businesses, land and buildings and competing for jobs. That they are minority that is becoming a force to be reckoned with."

 

Eastleigh has long been an economic hub for Nairobi and a popular place to buy flashy clothes, electronics and exotic food.

 

Its success is a testament to the entrepreneurial zeal of Somalis, who are famed for turning a profit in adversity.

 

Eastleigh's shopping malls make about $7m a year, according to a 2011 study by the UK think tank Chatham House, while Somali-owned trucking firms in Kenya make $20m annually.

 

Damaged economy

 

The crackdown and harassment of Somalis in Eastleigh has already damaged an economy that is worth "billions of dollars" to Kenya, said Farah, the lecturer at Nairobi University.

 

"Kenya's government is going overboard," he said. "These security concerns mean they're undertaking a relocation that is illegal, won't solve the problem, will alienate refugees and rights activists. And they're going to lose money."

 

Recent military gains and a new government across the border in Somalia have raised hopes of peace and economic growth after two decades of conflict.

 

In December, Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki said he was working with officials in Mogadishu to "enable the hundreds of thousands of Somalis who are living in refugee camps to return" home.

 

Dr Farah said the plan to relocate Eastleigh's Somali population is one part of a bigger transition that will change the face of the region.

 

"It's just a temporary issue in a longer, drawn-out resolution, which will involve greater peace and stability in Somalia and the gradual relocation of some half million refugees back to their homeland," he said.

 

Follow James Reinl on Twitter: @jamesreinl

[Daqane]

They are planning to herd those refugees in to the thika stadium approximately 50 km from nairobi.

[nuune]

Kenyan officials plan to round-up

34,000 Somali refugees

and asylum seekers in Eastleigh and other urban areas, and hold them

in a football stadium

north of Nairobi.

Like sheep, yes, we will see if they have the capacity and manpower to do that, and yet, no word from that so called ambassador hebel Amerika his name something like that!

[Daqane]

He has done the rounds on the kenyan t.v stations and radio, but in the end he is a diplomat and if it got to the stage of him screaming blue murder on roof tops he would have failed miserably.

 

That being said I think it is time he was moved on, he has been there since his appointment by Ali geedi, any diplomat would get stale in such a situation.

[nuune]

Indeed, and he wasn't included the diplomats that were given the deadline to come to Mogadishu, so in fact, he should have being sacked according to the charter deadline they set for every diplomat, but he is there, for whatever reasons, veteran?!!

[Daqane]

I think he is going to be replaced they already appointed a new consul for the embassy Siyad Shire, so maybe he is next he is at best a piddling ambassador, and for a man who lived in the west for so long, he is command of english is sub-optimal, he seems like he is going to chock on his tongue when ever he attempts the excercise, but to be fair and realistic, no Somali ambassador would be able to stand infront of the forces that have taken years to unleash, indeed the only things that is giving the kenyan goverment food for thought are the upcoming elections as all candidates would use and such move to drum up support for themselves and the western NGO's who are so eager to start shooting off of memo's and what ever they do in the fotress of solitude in the UN headqauters in Gigiri nairobi.

 

All I know is that bussiness is in islii right now, rents are in islii right now....

[nuune]

^^ Daqane, you are our only source in Nairobi now who is active in SOL, we do need your updates, sxb, tell us more about the rent and the business, how bad the rent went down, what is the average rent compared to what it was, just average figures if you could find, the business, how is it now, are owners moving away quickly etc

[Daqane]

Well firstly I am here for two weeks since I relocated back to somalia, I have not been a resident of eastleigh but lets face it all roads lead to islii if you are a somali in Nairobi my observations are by nature subjective and anecdotal....

 

First thing you notice about islii nowadays is that the population has gone down dramitacally! It is very noticable, apartment buildings going for 30,000 ksh for a two or three bedroom are now going for 15,000 in the heart of eatleigh and 12,000 in areas abit out of the hub, regardless the occupancy rate for these exorbitantly priced and highly in demand apartment buildings are at around 30-40%, compare this to when they were fully rented and had waiting lists!!

There is very little casual work it seems to me, all the jaariyads are standing around in groups and confessed they have to wait for weeks for a little weekend work, previously they had very little unemployment and ones that could keep up with the hectic life of serving somalis were literally fought over.

Most hotels are very lightly occupied and some like bushra hotel are getting their overheads paid by the owners out of their own pocket, as a visitor to islii u must remember how hotels had to be booked weeks in advance if you wanted any sort of surety and quality.

Now the most intreasting thing is that most of the malls upper floors are un occupied! apart from the ground floor and the shops facing the street, the other shops are either empty or boarded up.

The banks are closing some of their branches, the money of islii attracted venerable institutions such as standard charted into the open sewer called islii, but now they already cutting their branches there by half!

Finally were are all the people!! it is frightening for anyone who was used to the hustle and bustle of the place to see how kind of empty it looks!!

 

As I said subjective but almost all small traders are out, the big boys are going to follow I predict!! They are reviving a plan to audit all somali properties in kenya, if that happens trust me no somali wants people asking him where he got the monies to put into large infrustructure & housing projects....

[Che -Guevara]

I guess the boom days are over.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Daqane;916872 wrote:

Well firstly I am here for two weeks since I relocated back to somalia, I have not been a resident of eastleigh but lets face it all roads lead to islii if you are a somali in Nairobi

my observations are by nature subjective and anecdotal....

 

First thing you notice about islii nowadays is that the population has gone down dramitacally! It is very noticable, apartment buildings going for 30,000 ksh for a two or three bedroom are now going for 15,000 in the heart of eatleigh and 12,000 in areas abit out of the hub, regardless the occupancy rate for these exorbitantly priced and highly in demand apartment buildings are at around 30-40%, compare this to when they were fully rented and had waiting lists!!

There is very little casual work it seems to me, all the jaariyads are standing around in groups and confessed they have to wait for weeks for a little weekend work, previously they had very little unemployment and ones that could keep up with the hectic life of serving somalis were literally fought over.

Most hotels are very lightly occupied and some like bushra hotel are getting their overheads paid by the owners out of their own pocket, as a visitor to islii u must remember how hotels had to be booked weeks in advance if you wanted any sort of surety and quality.

Now the most intreasting thing is that most of the malls upper floors are un occupied! apart from the ground floor and the shops facing the street, the other shops are either empty or boarded up.

The banks are closing some of their branches, the money of islii attracted venerable institutions such as standard charted into the open sewer called islii, but now they already cutting their branches there by half!

Finally were are all the

people!!

it is frightening for anyone who was used to the hustle and bustle of the place to see how kind of empty it looks!!

 

As I said subjective but almost all small traders are out, the big boys are going to follow I predict!! They are reviving a plan to audit all somali properties in kenya, if that happens trust me no somali wants people asking him where he got the monies to put into large infrustructure & housing projects....

Jilaa Cali Hiiraan la dhaho ayaa halqabsi u ahayd ruwaayad ka mid ah ruwaayadiisa uu jilay. Halqabsigaas oo ahayd, Ii wad sheekada, ii wad, haddana ii wada sheekada oo ii wad...

 

Maxaa booto iyo wax aan raad lahayn inta ku daldashay. Dadka aan Islii ku sugneyn u beenguur, not me. Yaa maanta camal u soo sawiro Islii, sideeda inay tahay iyo si kale adigaa ogaan lahaydee.

[Daqane]

MMA as I said, what I wrote is my opinion, you can dismiss it as you like that is yours and other peoples prerogative, but your a grown man, there is no need to call someone you disagree with a liar

 

Traders cart away capital from Eastleigh

 

On the brink: The bubble that was Eastleigh is threatening to burst as shoppers and traders flee the area in the wake of mysterious terror attacks

 

The picture of Eastleigh is one of total withdrawal and subjugation.

 

The poor roads that had caved in under the weight of human traffic are empty.

 

Human traffic within the Eastleigh peri-urban shopping centre has thinned to unimaginable levels like the morning dew that evaporates with the rising sun.

 

The flow of toxic sludge — evidence of human life and activity — onto the roads is gradually drying up.

 

The verandas of mega buildings that teemed with hawkers and wares on display have been zone off with mean nylon ropes — as if to keep the ‘bad guys’ away.

 

The hawkers, whose daily bread singularly hinged on shouting, have since gone mute — vending their wares in silence and only occasionally waving gently at a passing onlooker.

 

The stalls that housed not just the merchandise but secret safes hoarding millions of shillings are deserted in their dozens.

 

Public transport is a sorry portrait of a battered sub-sector. PSV conductors — known for the sub-culture of violence and ruthlessness — have been reduced to a tame lot. Seated in their vessels, they count on providence and blank stares to bring passengers their way.

 

The drivers, openly bored due to an alien culture — one of total order and silence — drift off in thoughts. With vehicle stereos in the mute piling onto their misery, the drivers often doze off as they await a signal from their conductors to step on the pedal.

 

Shoppers and traders alike talk in low tones — occasionally glancing over their shoulders as they barter their suspicions.

 

This is the new Eastleigh where fear of the unknown is the new commodity in stock.

 

The recent wave of terror attacks in the area has sent a chill down the spine of residents and shoppers alike. The security crackdown that followed has only made life harder and business near impossible.

 

Businesses worth billions of shillings are either closing down in Eastleigh or being relocated to other countries.

 

Business Beat has authoritatively learnt that proprietors are fleeing the region’s business hub to escape a sting of security operations targeting aliens — most of who run a chain of businesses in the area.

Massive withdrawals

 

Banks that rushed to the area are already feeling the pinch of the fleeing businesspeople.

 

Our investigations reveal that an estimated Sh10 billion was withdrawn from 12 banks that operate in the area in the past three months alone.

 

Efforts to get a comment from Barclays Bank Managing Director Adan Mohammed proved futile, as he did not respond to our phone calls.

 

Paul Sesi, Head of Operations at Chase Bank, which also operates in the area said Chase Bank hadn’t witnessed any panic withdrawals.

 

“We are yet to see anything untoward,” said Sesi. “We haven’t been affected and are operating normally.”

 

But even as operators in the areas denied knowledge of anything unseemly, Barclays Bank, which used to operate two branches on a 24-hour basis, has since stopped night operations due to lack of customers.

 

“Barclays now operates only day time because the night business is dead,” says Hussein Roba, Chairman Eastleigh Residents Community Association (ERCA).

 

“People no longer sell or buy at night because nobody wants to dare the police to a duel.”

 

A few months ago, the Government outlawed the alien card — apparently the only identity and security some of the traders held — making their stay in the country untenable.

 

“The government recently issued a directive that such people should either go back to their countries of origin or refugee camps,” says Eastleigh District Officer Charles Muiruri.

Some of the traders are reportedly fleeing to Somalia, Uganda and Dubai while others are said to be ‘melting’ into within the country — most notably at the Coast.

 

Analysts say the developments in Eastleigh — previously believed to be nexus of unexplained cash flows from piracy and sneaked goods from Somalia, vindicate a report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) for the quarter ending June 2012. The report showed that unexplained forex flows dropped to the lowest level.

 

“There is widespread belief that some of the money used to fund the booming property market in Kenya and other businesses is from Somalia,” says Job Kihumba a director at Standard Investment Bank (SIB).

“It is likely that this money found its way to Eastleigh.”

 

According to the KNBS data, unexplained foreign money in Kenya’s banking system fell to Sh6.5 billion ($76.5 million) mid last year from a high of Sh170 billion ($2 billion) at the beginning of 2011 — the lowest in five years.

 

Cheap imports

 

Kenya had also been flooded by billions of shillings worth of goods imported through the Al-Shabaab controlled Somalia coastline — and sold cheaply into the market. However, this has severely been affected by the fall of Kismayu.

 

Provincial administrators say smugglers have been trying to sneak in goods from Ethiopia through Moyale into the area, but this has proved costly, especially with the influx of cheaper goods from China.

 

The security operation in Eastleigh started slightly over six months ago, but has intensified in the recent past following a series of blasts in the area.

 

It is believed the successful excursion of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF’s) in Somalia has helped stem piracy in Indian Ocean and blocked the routes used by smugglers to sneak in goods to the country.

 

“Eastleigh is at a critical crossroads and will likely emerge from the ongoing crisis looking quite different from the one we know today,” says Kihumba.

 

“Most businesses that operate there will be affected in some way, regardless of how the security operation unfolds.”

 

The exodus of moneyed immigrants, mostly of Somali origin, has also left property owners in Eastleigh chalking up huge losses in lost rent.

In fact, the provincial administration is now fighting to stem an explosive situation brewing between thousands of vacating tenants who are all demanding back their rent deposits and reluctant property owners, some of who are still repaying the loans they used to build the houses.

 

“It is true we are swamped by numerous cases between landlords and several tenants who are vacating,” says Muiruri.

 

Muiruri says the situation is so complex that in some instances, a property owner is swamped by more than 20 tenants all demanding their deposits back because they are relocating.

 

In a familiar tale of high-living in the boom years, followed by an uncomfortable return to reality, the landlords borrowed heftily from banks to construct houses for the incoming immigrants.

 

The exodus of the ‘refugees’ has triggered a plunge in the value of the assets the loans were based on — with some borrowers reportedly having trouble making repayments.

 

The fleeing traders have also left several business premises in prime areas like Garissa Lodge unoccupied.

 

A survey by Business Beat revealed a number of vacant business premises in Eastleigh’s business hub where 16 tenants vacated a mall referred to as Yaburiani last week.

 

According to Hussein, Sh500 million used to exchange hands in Eastleigh’s major business hub before the security operation, but things have since changed with estimates.

showing the figures could have plunged to Sh150 million.

[Daqane]

A high-ranking provincial administrator who requested not to be named due to sensitivity of the matter confirmed the figures.

 

Besides local traders who come from various towns to buy stuff from Garissa Lodge, it has also been a key wholesale market for traders from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

 

These people have started shying away from Eastleigh on growing perceptions of insecurity in Nairobi peri-urban shopping centre and most importantly, because the people they used to buy from are running away.

 

Incidentally, certain sectors of the Eastleigh economy have received a boost since the sporadic attacks and subsequent security operation with the most notable being security companies and taxi operators.

 

Providing alternative means of transport for staff unwilling to travel into branches in Eastleigh was the principal cost of the situation for two banks that have branches in the area.

“They have deployed more security personnel at their premises and we now have to pick and drop members of their staff who fear being caught in potentially explosive situations in the area,” says a taxi operator who requested not to be named.

 

It is booming business for taxi operators and security guards who now have extra duties, but the situation is not enjoyable because we also have to check what is happening behind our backs.”

 

There are now fears that the relocation of businesses from Eastleigh could have longer-term economic repercussions revenue collections.

 

The fall in property prices, reduction of business activities and its impact on the retail and hotel industries could also have far reaching ramifications in the country.

 

Financial institutions that provided loans towards the construction of some of these properties could be facing a potentially crippling situation as they could end up with assets in collaterals whose value is way below the amount given.

 

For example unofficial estimates show that Nairobi City Council would collect Sh50 million less in taxes than in the previous fiscal year, with loss of parking fees and other licences from traders responsible for a huge chunk of the loss.

 

The remainder is a result of the decreases in value of other property in the area and, interestingly, by a reduction in the value of hotels.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000075554&pageNo=5&story_title=Traders-cart-away-capital-from-Eastleigh

[QansaxMeygaag]

^

it is just a lull, a precautionary one on the part of the traders; they will come back after the elections, maybe not all of them but some. There are other Kenyans fleeing other parts of Kenya as well. I know some Kikuyus who have sold their properties in Eldoret for instance for fear of a repeat of the post-election violence of 2007/08...

 

Even many Kenyan Somalis have made ahabit of heading to Garissa, Wajir and Mandera for the same reasons. It is all about the March 4th elections, everybody wants to see how things will pan out...