Christian humanitarian groups are among the 11 charitable organizations calling on Kenya to reverse its decision to close the largest refugee camp in the world.
More than 320,000 displaced people face an unstable future after Kenya, the second-largest refugee host in Africa, announced plans to shut down the camp and its Department of Refugee Affairs, which has already disbanded.
At least half of Kenya’s refugees live in Dadaab, a sprawling, 25-year-old settlement along Kenya’s eastern border with Somalia, where families have fled from drought, famine, and terror threats.
More than 70 World Vision staff work in Kenyan refugee camps; in Dadaab, they distribute food to families, including nutrient-dense rations to treat children suffering from malnutrition.
The government proposed expelling refugees at least twice before—after al-Shabaab’s deadly attacks on a Nairobi mall in 2013 and a university in 2015—but didn’t follow through. Officials worried both were linked to Somalian refugees at Dadaab.
World Vision, Lutheran World Federation, and Jesuit World Service issued a statement recently asking Kenya to reconsider saying “Shutting down the refugee camps will mean increased protection risks for the thousands of refugees and asylum seekers – a majority of whom are women, children and unaccompanied minors.”