Al-Shabaab insurgents fighting the Somali Transitional Government have recently confirmed their links with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda terror group, which has been blamed for the 1998 and 2002 terrorist attacks in Kenya. Photo/FILE
By PATRICK MAYOYOPosted Monday, February 15 2010 at 20:00
In Summary
- ‘Nation’ writer PATRICK MAYOYO takes the debate further on Kenya’s ability to police its soil, and serves a chilling account of foreigners’ infiltration and a growing terrorist threat
Reports of an intricate syndicate in which foreigners acquire Kenyan citizenship led to the recent countrywide crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Nation has learnt.
The operation, spearheaded by regular and Administration Police, was a result of a classified brief from different security agencies, sources say.
By the time it was concluded, it had drawn the barbs from Kenyan Somalis, who said it amounted to ethnic profiling and discrimination.
However, the government denied the accusations, saying the crackdown targeted all illegal immigrants irrespective of their nationality.
The security brief is said to have indicated that some foreigners had acquired national identity cards and passports by colluding with government officers in the Ministry of Immigration, posing a threat to national security given that some of the terrorists implicated in the 1998 and 2002 terror attacks in Kenya had acquired such documents.
It was also feared that supporters of al-Shabaab insurgents from Somalia could take advantage of the security loopholes to infiltrate the country.
Delicate issue
Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojodeh could neither confirm nor deny the explanation for the operation, saying: “I cannot comment on that issue because security matters are delicate and require to be handled with outmost care.”
Mr Ojodeh, however, said the crackdown mostly targeted those who had fraudulently acquired Kenyan
registration documents, and that the exercise would continue.
“We must react swiftly on any reports we receive concerning insecurity, and we need the support of all Kenyans,” he said.
Supporting the assistant minister, Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ also said the crackdown was a normal operation against illegal immigrants.
The immigrants are smuggled into the country by an intricate, multi-million shilling syndicate involving international and local players.
A senior immigration officer who talked to the Nation on condition of anonymity said millions of shillings exchanged hands between foreigners and “brokers” who the foreigners pay for entry into the country annually.
He said it costs between Sh100,000 and Sh500,000 to get one individual into the country, and more than Sh5 million for those who want to end up in Europe or North America.
Most of the immigrants are Sudanese, Somalis, Ethiopians and Eritreans. There is a small number from Asian countries.
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