KENYA: Pastoralists, too, can be displaced
ISIOLO, 31 October 2012 (IRIN) - Can pastoralists, who spend much of their
lives itinerant, in search of pasture, become displaced? They can, and up to
400,000 pastoralists in northern Kenya are currently internally displaced
persons (IDPs), according to a new report.
"Movements cease to be normal once factors that give rise to them are
'coercive' in nature," Nuur Sheekh, one of the researchers of
<
http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/8Oct12.pdf> Kenya's Neglected IDPs, a
report released in October, told IRIN.
"In the case of pastoralists, these could range from violence and conflict
over pasture and water resources, inter-ethnic conflict over these
resources, and political-economic resources where politics is the underlying
cause like in recent cases of
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/94555/KENYA-Deaths-displacement-in-Isiolo-fi
ghting> Isiolo,
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96153/KENYA-Dozens-killed-in-Tana-River-clas
hes> Tana River,
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/94681/KENYA-Thousands-remain-displaced-as-fi
ghting-subsides-in-Moyale> Moyale,
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/90505/KENYA-SOMALIA-Insecurity-without-borde
rs> Mandera, [and]
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95957/KENYA-Early-drought-prompts-conflict>
Wajir counties."
Movement is not necessarily forced in the case of drought, provided
government ministries and humanitarian organizations are able to supply
water, fodder and veterinary services for animals and water and food for
people, added Sheekh.
"The displacement of pastoralists in northern Kenya must be considered in
the context of many factors, which are often interlinked: the legacy of
colonialism; violence and conflict; cattle raiding; natural and climatic
disasters; human rights violations; border politics; small-arms
proliferation; activities of militant groups, including the
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96658/Briefing-Ethiopia-s-ONLF-rebellion>
Oromo Liberation Front (OLF); and the on-going
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/93388/KENYA-SOMALIA-Security-risks-overshado
w-aid-delivery> conflict in Somalia," said the report, which was published
by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Internal Displacement
Monitoring Centre (IDMC).
Overlooked
Though pastoralists are believed to occupy over 70 percent of Kenya's
landmass, census figures of their communities are largely considered
unreliable. Their constant movement results in difficulty assessing not only
their numbers and locations but their humanitarian needs as well.
"Whereas displacement in other parts of Kenya, such as the Rift Valley, has
drawn international attention, in northern Kenya the problem has so far
received little recognition and inadequate or no support and assistance,"
the report states. "National and international reports on displacement in
Kenya rarely mention displacement among pastoralist communities in northern
Kenya despite their occupying a large part of Kenyan territory."
Displacement is often treated as normal and part of the pastoralist
communities' lifestyle, Abdi Sheikh, an elder from the northeastern district
of Wajir, told IRIN. But pastoralist movement is linked to much more than
the search for pasture.
People are at times forced to move because of fear of attacks linked to
rustling, whether from across the borders or internally.
Insecurity rife
Northern Kenya - an expansive area extending from central Kenya to the
borders with Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda - has been
<
http://www.irinnews.org/In-depth/87469/83/Another-Kenya-The-humanitarian-co
st-of-under-development> marginalized by successive governments. Much of the
area is characterized by acute poverty and recurrent resource-based
conflicts that leave tens of thousands displaced annually.
"Because governments in [the Horn of Africa] have tended to neglect
pastoralist areas, both in terms of development and provision of security,
pastoralists have tended to arm themselves in order to protect their
communities," said Sheekh. "This can sometimes have negative consequences,
especially when state security apparatuses use force to disarm pastoralist
communities. This tends to lead to all sorts of violations where villages
and people are attacked."
Violent crackdowns date back to the 1960s, when part of the region then
known as the Northern Frontier District wanted to secede from Kenya and
become part of Somalia. "The government was determined show its force. The
innocent suffered from the state's anger, which was provoked [when] a few
individuals declared they wanted the region to secede and join Somalia,"
said Omar Elmi, an elder from Wajir District.
"The chief's police [administration police] and the military were all over.
All young men - I was 18 years old - were rounded up, tortured and ordered
to produce guns. Many were killed; some committed suicide after their
livestock were shot dead. The situation was bad. Human and livestock bodies
were strewn all over."
Elmi fled after being separated from his family, eventually ending up in
Laikipia, where he worked as a herder at a private ranch.
Recent government efforts at
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/89060/KENYA-Your-guns-or-your-freedom-please
> disarmament have been unsuccessful, with communities saying the process
exposes them to enemy attacks. Human rights organizations have accused the
government of being
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/81225/KENYA-Hundreds-injured-in-Mandera-secu
rity-operation-activist> heavy handed in past security operations, urging it
to address the underlying economic, social, cultural and political causes of
gun prevalence in the region.
Long-term solutions needed
The ISS/IDMC report notes that responses to internal displacement in
northern Kenya have been short-term and inadequate: "Agencies tend to
respond with temporary solutions like food aid, and little effort is made to
implement lasting solutions based on security and development, devised in
consultation with pastoralist communities themselves. Where displacement is
preventable, measures are rarely taken to prevent it."
Thousands of people who fled violence late last year in the pastoralist
border area of Moyale are still living in Ethiopia, said Wario Katelo, a
human rights activist.
"They can't come back. Where will they stay? Their houses were burnt; nobody
has offered to assist them. I am sorry this is one of the factors that
results [in the] vicious cycle of clashes. Youths whose parents have been
killed must [seek] revenge; they have to raid to recover lost livestock,
hence [the] permanent pattern of fighting and displacement," he said.
Isaiah Nakoru, the commissioner of the Marsabit County, which neighbours
Moyale said: "We have managed to mobilize NGOs to help those affected by
clashes start life afresh, to help them with iron sheets to put up houses
[and to] start income generating activities. Constituency development funds
have also helped rebuild schools that were burnt."
According to researcher Sheekh,
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/88485/KENYA-Draft-policy-offers-new-hope-for
-IDPs> a draft IDP policy before the cabinet and the Internally Displaced
Persons Bill, 2012, which is currently awaiting the president's signature,
contain important provisions that will provide much-needed protection and
assistance to the displaced, and it will oblige the state to prevent
displacement.
"The other important provision is that IDPs can actually seek legal recourse
for compensation for life and property lost, given that the state has
primary responsibility to prevent displacement," he added, noting that it is
not enough for the policies to be passed - it is also necessary to build
capacity at the national and county levels so that these laws are fully
implemented.
To prevent displacement, the ISS/IDMC report recommends the government:
develops a strategy to respond to security threats in pastoralist areas; put
in place an efficient data-collection and management system on IDPs in
pastoralist areas; invest in and use early warning information on conflict
and climate; and protect the existing assets of pastoralist communities.
na/aw/rz
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Received on Thu Nov 01 2012 - 19:15:20 EDT
