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Nairobi, Kenya, January 23, 2010 (SL Times) – Kenyan police made a
security sweep throughout Nairobi and other parts of Kenya in which they
arrested hundreds of Somalis. Among those arrested were Somali
politicians and parliamentarians who had left their country’s insecurity
for the relative safety of Kenya. Even Somalis staying in five star
hotels were not exempted from the arrests. Among those arrested is
Somalia’s former Foreign Minister, Ismail Hurre Buba, and
parliamentarian Ikraan Odowa Raage.
The targeting of Somalis for arrest happened after a demonstration
against the deportation of a Jamaican Islamic cleric, Abdallah Faysal,
turned violent and two people were killed while others were injured and
private properties were damaged. The Kenyan government accused Somalia’s
al-Qaida-affiliated organization al-Shabaab of being behind the
demonstration.
However, there are reports that the crackdown on Somalis was a favor to
Somalia’s President, Sheikh Sharif, who had pleaded with the Kenyan
government to move against parliamentarians and former ministers who
were preparing to bring down his government. Former Foreign Minister,
Ismail Hurre Buba, confirmed that his arrest was politically motivated
although he did not name who was behind it.
Former member of the Kenyan parliament, Mr. Bilow Adan Kirow, told the
BBC Somali Service (Jan.21, 2010) that the mass arrest of Somalis is
part of an economic war which some members of the Kenyan government and
some members of the Kenyan media have been waging against Somalis in
Kenya. The reason for this anti-Somali campaign, according to Bilow Adan
Kirow, is that some Kenyan high officials feel threatened by Somali
successes in business and the results of the population census which
showed an unexpected increase in the number of Kenyan Somalis. Mr Bilow
Adan Kirow also revealed in that interview that his wife and his
daughter were arrested in front of their house and were held for several
hours by the police even though he is a former member of parliament, and
the campaign against Somalis is going on in other provinces too, not
just Nairobi.
Kenya’s Defense Minister, Muhammad Yusuf Haji , an ethnic Somali,
defended the Kenyan government in an interview with the BBC Somali
Service (Jan.22, 2010). He said although the demonstration was started
by six people who were Muslims but not Somalis, the fact that Somalis
are 75% percent of Muslims makes them a target of the authorities. He
said the black flag of al-Shabaab was waved in the demonstration, the
demonstrators threw stones, and many of the demonstrators were Somali,
and that was what the Kenyan public saw on television. He said Somalis
are doing much better than other Kenyan Muslims in commerce, hold high
positions in government and head many subcommittees in parliament, so it
cannot be said that they are being discriminated against.
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