Sowing hospitality, reaping from the seeds of refugees

 

By Adow Jubat

 
Initially shunned as a burden on the host communities, Somali refugees have become an integral part of the economy of urban regions of North Eastern Province.

The headquarters of the province, Garissa and its sister towns of Wajir, Mandera and Ijara appear to have embraced and learnt to live with the immigrants, cast on them by the 20-year long breakdown of order in Somalia.

Refugees in the Northern Kenya camps always yearn for a better life outside. Many have managed to immigrate or become residents in Kenya.

In the mid-nineties, local populations and the Provincial 

Administration were always at loggerheads with the refugees whose numbers surged by the day. Today, most of the refugees who sneaked into the towns and managed to get residency or citizenship status have integrated into the communities.
Welcoming the refugees has become like an investment whose returns have matured.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) says there are about 400,000 Somali refugees registered with the agency to live in Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps in Garissa and Turkana districts respectively.
Citizenship

But other NGOs and the Provincial Administration say over half of those have already found their way into the population by obtaining citizenship, mostly through corrupt means.

"Since the laws restricts refugee movement outside camps, thousands have over the years sneaked out of the squalid living conditions in the camps to integrate with their hosts. 

Many have thrived in business and become residents of North Eastern Province’s towns," says a director of a Wajir-based NGO.

The exodus from the camps intensified in the past few years as the situation in Somalia degenerated and as the US and European nations tightened immigration rules on asylum seekers.

Ibrahim Rashid Ahmed, an economist and development analyst says, with hope for peace in Somalia a mirage, many refugees took the predicament in their stride and started a new life.

Subsequently, the Somali refugees have contributed to turning the once sleepy North Eastern Province towns of Ijara, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera into bubbling business hubs.

The towns have virtually shed off their baadiya (Somali for hinterland) image and embraced an economic transformation spurred by enterprising immigrant business people.

Garissa, which was until 2005 served only three bus companies, now has more than 15, making travel easier, reliable and cost effective. The immigrants own most of the companies.
The immigrants also run most of the businesses and are a source of employment opportunities for thousands of locals.

They own well stocked bazaars, dealing mainly in electronics, textiless and food items.
One can now buy a 40-inch flat screen TV, a Compaq computer and a Mac laptop in Garissa.
Similar thriving business has taken root in the border town of Mandera, Ijara and Wajir.

"Most of the goods come in from Somalia. Some are taken through the Customs desk at Mandera but majority are smuggled through unpoliced border routes," said a Mandera shopkeeper.

"The immigrant businesspeople have built strong business partnerships with their hosts, many who provide a front when business owner’s status is not regularlised.

Garissa now has branches of seven major banks, up from two the years ago. Fast-growing Equity Bank has opened branches in Garissa, Wajir and Mandera.

Hassan Mohammed, a Somali immigrant with a niche in real state said he employs more than 500 people.
He has spread out his businesses to Nairobi and is in the process of constructing high-rise offices and business complexes in the sprawling Eastleigh.

However, Mohammed says most immigrants operate in fear of arrest by police. "Those who have work permits or resident status face a lot of problems," says the businessman.

He denies that many of the immigrant Somali businesspeople are beneficiaries the latest surge of piracy.
"Most of it is a myth, I have never seen a former pirate here in Garissa, maybe they invest elsewhere," says Mohammed.

According to Kenya chamber, commerce and Industry Wajir Branch Chairman Mohammed Abdille Ali the real story of the Somali refugees-turned-businesspeople is tainted by unfounded allegations.
"While it is undisputed that some have had negative influence, the immigrant Somalis have generally contributed positively to the economy," he said.
Helping aliens

North Eastern Provincial Commissioner James Ole Seriani says some residents and Government officials front for the aliens as their Kenyan relatives after receiving bribes.

"It is difficult to pin down a foreigner who has Kenyan documentation," he says.
"When the foreigners are registered the same residents who helped them acquire documentation shout the 

loudest on realising the immigrants are giving them competition for jobs, businesses and property rights. We have managed to take action against some chiefs who have been caught helping aliens as emanating from their locations in order to give them registration documents," Seriani says.