Kenya detentions: ‘People were herded like goats’
NAIROBI – Hassan Isaak stood outside Nairobi’s Kasarani Stadium for hours.
He was hoping to obtain information about his sister-in-law, who – like thousands of others – had recently been detained by Kenyan security forces.
“Walahi [I swear to God], I have never seen anything like this,” a frustrated Isaak told Anadolu Agency outside the stadium.
“Our people were herded like goats, put in lorries and brought here,” he said.
Isaak said his sister-in-law was arrested in Eastleigh, a district of Nairobi heavily populated by Somali refugees and Kenyans of Somali origin, known locally as “Little Mogadishu.”
“She’s a refugee and, Walahi, she has been officially registered in Kenya,” he said.
“We have been told to be patient because the screening process is continuing,” added Isaak, an Eastleigh businessman.
“I’m sure they [the authorities] will release her,” he comforted himself. “They’re verifying her documents to see if they’re genuine.”
Kenyan authorities recently launched a massive operation aimed at restoring public security following a spate of attacks in Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa.
At least 3600 people have so far been detained and confined in Kasarani Stadium for screening and interrogation.
Deputy Interior Cabinet Secretary Mwendwa Njoka told AA earlier that 447 people would be referred to court, while 69 had already been referred.
“My relative’s refugee documents are proper. No problem,” said Yussuf Hassan, in his early twenties, as he awaited a refugee relative outside the stadium.
“I just hope to see her out of that building.”
Kenya currently shelters close to 800,000 refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Northeastern Kenya’s Dadaab camp is believed to be the world’s largest refugee center, hosting a total of some 500,000 refugees, mostly Somalis.
-Waiting-
But not all those being screened inside Kasarani Stadium are immigrants.
Abdullahi Warsame’s wife, a Kenyan of Somali origin, went missing after a recent security sweep.
“I was away when police came. When I returned home, she was nowhere to be seen,” he told AA.
“A neighbor whose relative has been released told me she is inside the stadium waiting to be screened,” Warsame said.
“She is a Kenyan Somali. She has her identification card. I know she will join me soon,” he added from outside the stadium.
Roseline Nyakwana, for her part, was awaiting news of her husband, a Muslim businessman.
“He is a Kenyan with proper documents,” she told AA. “I don’t know why he was arrested.”
“I’m still waiting for him to emerge from the stadium,” Nyakwana said, crying quietly.
Mohamed Khalif, a 28-year-old Kenyan Somali, meanwhile, looked for his brother and sister.
“They were arrested in a security swoop in Eastleigh,” he told AA. “I have been here for more than ten hours.”
Amina, Mohamed’s mother, came with him to the stadium to look for her children.
“They’re inside there [the stadium]; we cannot see them,” she told AA.
“The [security] men told us to wait here at the gate. They tell us, ‘Once your people have been released, you will see them coming out’,” Amina added, her eyes fixed on the massive closed door.
Anadolu Agency