What It’s Like to Be a Somali Refugee in Kenya

Extremist groups in Africa like Al Shabab terrorize entire communities who refuse to cooperate with their rigid rules. Journalist Samira Shackle profiles a man who had a close encounter with the group working at a television station in Mogadishu. Al Shabab extremists “confiscated equipment and gave staff a stark choice: join us, or die.” He eventually fled to Kenya where he works as a journalist for a Somali-language radio station. Neighboring countries, alarmed by violence so close, question how extremist recruit and expand. But they also do little to welcome the desperate who seek asylum. Worries about extremists posing as refugees are real, too. Kenya has cracked down on refugees since brutal attacks on a Nairobi mall that left 175 dead in 2013 and Garissa University College earlier this year with 147 students dead. Refugees complain about constant searches, abuse and corruption. “Kenya is home to rising religious tension and longstanding ethnic rivalries; it is against this backdrop that the vilification of Somalis has become so prevalent,” writes Shackle. “It is difficult to see the continued scapegoating of this community as anything other than a government desperate to detract attention from its inability to protect citizens by scapegoating the other.” – YaleGlobal