Youths threaten to join Somali militia over jobs

By NATION Correspondent

Hundreds of youths have threatened to join the al Shabaab militia in protest against a UN decision to sideline them in the construction of a refugee camp in Fafi District.The youths said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had laid off 86 Kenyans and re-advertised their jobs, specifying that only refugees were eligible to apply.They threatened to surrender their identity cards to Fafi district commissioner Haron Rashid and join the al Shabaab militia in Somalia as they had no other source of livelihood.They said their only source of livelihood, livestock rearing, had been affected by massive environmental degradation caused by the more than 200,000 refugees in the area.“We are being denied jobs yet we have never been compensated for the environmental damage caused by refugees over the last 20 years. They have no other source of fuel besides firewood, resulting in massive destruction of trees,” said Hassan Sheikh Farah.Area MP Adan Sugow, who is also an assistant minister for Public Service, called for the immediate closure of the implementing agency that had laid off the youths.He said the UN agencies were recruiting refugees and pay them low wages.UNHCR representative Brunno Geddo promised to help local youths start income-generating activities and to set up independent UNHCR offices at the proposed campsite to give locals jobs.