INQUIRY ON THE REFUGEE CAMP OF KAKUMA: Hellish conditions for LGBTQ+ migrants

For this inquiry, we had the opportunity to meet Tobias Pellicciari, Director of International Support – Human Rights “Migration and Asylum Program in Europe”. Tobias has worked for many years in the field of migrants’ and refugees’ reception in Europe, with a special focus on sexual minorities. Thanks to his experience and the interviews that the team of LMPride carried on with some of the victims, in this article we can offer a complete picture of the conditions in which LGBTQ+ migrants are forced to live in Kenya. In particular, the attention will be on the Kakuma refugee camp, managed by the High Commissioner for Refugees – also known as UNHCR.

 Large Movements team has already reported on how homophobia in Kenya an issue in every stratum and aspect of society and civilisation is still, and how the Kenyan LGBTQ+ community is highly stigmatised and marginalised. In this interview, however, we want to shed light on the conditions of migrants and asylum seekers who, having fled their country of origin, mostly from Uganda, are discriminated because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

Picture of the area

Kakuma is situated in north-western Kenya, specifically in Turkana County in the Rift Valley. The refugee camp was founded in 1992 to accommodate 16,000 women and men fleeing the war in Sudan. Today hosts more than 200,000 people, making it one of the largest refugee camps in the world.

The area in which the camp is located is predominantly dry and highly sensitive to the climate change effects. These factors have made almost impossible to cultivate the land, more and more threatened by the advancing desert.

The Kakuma refugee camp has been built on an isolated area, outside the city centre. According to the Kenyan government indeed, this would guarantee safety of both the local population and the hosts of the camp.

As a result, accessing to essential services (hospital, employment, etc.) is quite difficult for refugees and asylum seekers in Kakuma. Moreover, the living conditions in the camp are almost below any minimum standards of human dignity: insect infestations, scarcity of food and absence of health support.

Undisturbed poisonous snakes wander around the camp
People forced to wait for hours under the sun to receive a bag of food
Often water tanks are not distributed even for a whole week, so hosts have to store…
… and wait in long lines to drink from the few accessible fountains in the camp

The already difficult living conditions of the people living in Kakuma become even more complicated for the members of the LGBTQ+ community. Most of them reside in separate sectors (known as ‘blocks’), to better ensure the general safety – according to UNHCR staff.

What it means living in Kakuma for an LGBTQ+ person

According to our interviewees, the isolation of the LGBTQ+ community in Kakuma has worsened the living conditions of this vulnerable group of refugees and asylum seekers. The separation of most of them from the rest of the hosts of the camp indeed, makes them more visible and vulnerable to aggressions.

Most of the LGBTQ+ asylum seekers come from the same Countries of origin as the queer applicants – mainly Uganda and Somalia – so they are likely to engage in the same homophobic behaviour, violence and harassment that drove Kakuma’s guests to leave their homeland. By making them more visible – by confining them all to the same area – therefore, UNHCR would have effectively increased the risk for LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers of experiencing persecution and violence. Violent and brutal acts are committed on a daily basis within the Kakuma camp and all the victims we spoke to complain that they have not received proper protection from UNHCR . Indeed, UNHCR very often does not respond to refugees’ and asylum seekers’ requests for help and/or protection.

The situation is not much better for the LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers who do not reside in the separated blocks.

They are identified by the other guests as queer people and they are subject to the same attacks and violence.

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Hosts of the camp walking around the camp armed with machetes in order to to ‘be ready’ in case they encounter a queer applicant on their path

Many LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in Kakuma preferred to live outside the barracks, sleeping in the open to protect each other. Those who fear the most because they constantly receive death threats from the hosts of the camp, often sleep as homeless in the streets of Nairobi. They say to feel safer than sleeping in their allocated accommodation in the camp. Very often among them, there are lesbian women with their children – also subjected to the same violence that their mothers have to suffer.

The decision to sleep outside came after a series of fires set by other residents at the lodgings of the queer refugees and asylum seekers during the night.

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People sleeping outdoors because they feel safer
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LGBTQ+ refugees’ accommodations set on fire
Child attacked because of his homosexual mother

Emblematic of how out of control the situation is within the camp and of the serious failures of UNHCR staff to protect this vulnerable category of refugees and asylum seekers, is the case of the 15th March 2021 fire: two homosexual men were burnt alive by other Kakuma’s residents. After two long days, UNHCR did not even provide proper health care to the fire victims, who remained in the camp without even having access to appropriate medical care.

After intense pressure from International Support – Human Rights, UNHCR transferred the two victims with an ambulance to a hospital 125km far from Kakuma, despite the fact that the ambulance staffs themselves and the local community had indicated the Nairobi hospital as the only one equipped with the right medical machines and treatments for those kinds of injuries.

Only on the 18th March, UNHCR – under pressure from the European Commission, alerted by Tobias – transported the victims to the Nairobi hospital by helicopter.

Letter from the European Commission in response to the request for action sent by Internatioanl Support – Human Rights

Unfortunately, one of the two men died as the result of the very serious burns he suffered and, more importantly, the lack of timely and adequate medical treatments.

The only statement issued by UNHCR following this tragedy was almost a month later and consisted in a generic request to the Kenyan authorities to investigate. The investigations, even though haven’t brought to a formal recognition of the attacker yet, have led to some fundamental clues which – together with the eye-witness testimonies – could provide at least enough benefit of the doubt to isolate the person, if not to completely deny him access to the camp. The alleged attacker is still now at the camp, able to freely walk around with any sort of supervision from the UNHCR staff. Indeed, he continues to threaten the men who survived the fire, who was forced to go living in a safe house outside Kakuma because the UNHCR staff has not granted him protection.

Unfortunately, the failure of judicial authorities in this matter is not surprising since Kenya is a strongly homophobic country, where a series of colonial-style ‘anti-homosexual laws’ are still in force. However, impunity after such crimes must not be conceived. Particularly, when one of the UN Agencies is actively present on the ground.

Unfortunately, the failure of judicial authorities in this matter is not surprising since Kenya is a strongly homophobic Country, as we have seen. However, impunity after such crimes must not be conceived. Particularly, when one of the UN Agencies is actively present on the ground.

This homophobic culture makes possible for homophobic behaviour still be prevalent throughout Kenya and its institutions.  This means that LBGTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers do not receive protection from the local authorities, theoretically in charge, along with the UNHCR, of their safety. On the contrary, many reports of arbitrary arrests have been published, accusing the Kenyan police of violence, rapes and even torture of LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers.

Since homophobia permeates every sector of the Kenyan society, it is virtually impossible for this vulnerable group of refugees and asylum seekers to find employment. As soon as employers realise that they are in front of an LGBTQ+ person, they either do not hire them or dismiss them. This lack of access to the labour market has meant that nowadays prostitution is the main source of survival for many of these people.

In general, many of the LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers living in Kakuma only survive thanks to UNHCR’s own food programmes – which, however, have been affected by a drastic reduction in fundings – and the support of local associations, not only composed by LGBTQ+ activists.

Proposals for addressing the emergency and improving the living conditions of LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in the Kakuma camp

As Tobias explains in the full interview (which you will find at the end of this paragraph) the UNHCR has very limited power to act and influence the Kenyan government. As a direct interlocutor of the government, indeed, while enjoying a certain degree of autonomy of action, UNHCR must still respect and apply the policies adopted by that country.

An event of 2018 provides a meaningful example of the limits that the High Commissioner for Refugees have to face when operating in Kenya. On the 19th of December 2018, UNHCR sent a letter to all the LGBTQ+ people who lived at Kakuma at the time, acknowledging the excessive risk for their safety represented by the other hosts of the camp and informing them that they would relocate them to safe accommodation in Nairobi.

UNHCR letter informing the LGBTQ+ residents of Kakuma of the immediate resettlement

This resettlement took place in a timely manner but, on the very same day the relocations were completed, the police informed – with a brief notice posted inside the camp – that they would no longer assist LGBTQ+ migrants who were victims of attacks – both inside and outside the camp – and that from then on, these people would have to turn exclusively to UNHCR for protection.

Notice posted by the Kenyan police informing of the stop of assistance for the LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers

Nonetheless, a few months after this relocation took place the Kenyan government ordered UNHCR to return all LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers to the camp, arguing that this would better ensure their safety.

At that point the UNHCR – despite having formally acknowledged, only a few months earlier, that the conditions inside the camp were constantly endangering the safety of LGBTQ+ hosts – had no choice but to bring everyone back inside the camp. They are still there today, waiting to be resettled again, as promised to them several times by the UNHCR itself.

Precisely because of this limitation of the UNHCR’s action, as Tobias tells us, the European Commission is the most suitable entity to mediate with the Kenyan government, as a fair government counterpart.

In this regard, we note that on September 19th 2021, the Parliament issued a Motion for a Resolution to increase the pressure on: (i) the Kenyan government to conduct serious investigations and provide effective protection to LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers; (ii) the UNHCR and the international community in general to improve the living conditions inside the camp on one hand but, above all, to create legal and safe pathways for this vulnerable category of refugees to leave the earthly hell in which they are currently forced to live.

It is precisely on this last point that we focused our interview with Tobias. With him, we discuss possible concrete solutions to effectively resolve the situation in a stable and lasting way.

First, we ask the European Parliament not to drop its Motion for a Resolution and we highlight the need to open a negotiating table with the United Nations and UNHCR to understand the issues that prevent the High Commissioner for Refugees from guaranteeing effective protection within the Kakuma camp (and beyond) to a vulnerable category of migrants such as LGBTQ+ people.

Resettlements – halted since September 2019, also because of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak – must be unblocked, to address the need for immediate protection of those who have been harassed for years within the camp and to whom it had been guaranteed that they would be resettled soon.

Indeed, resettlements, as Tobias notes, are a very useful tool to ensure the protection of LGBTQ+ refugees who are forced to live in Kakuma in the long term.

As he also explained during his speech at the European Parliament on the World Day Against Homo-transphobia which was celebrated this year, Tobias proposes to allocate the quarterly resettlement quotas for the construction of a regular and automatic resettlement mechanism built on the needs of LGBTQ+ people staying in Kakuma. To date, in fact, only unallocated quotas are used for the resettlement of LGBTQ+ refugees in Kakuma, which are far too low in numbers to have constant resettlement.

“Unallocated quotas” are the number of places that States “set aside” each year for global resettlement. These quotas can be used whenever there are cases in need of urgent or emergency resettlement, regardless of their country of origin or asylum.

Another solution on which we ask the EU to insist at the negotiating table with the UN and UNHCR is to admit LGBTQ+ migrants into the UNICORE project aimed at ensuring university corridors.

University corridors are very similar to humanitarian corridors but differ from the latter in their main objective, which is to ensure the right to study for vulnerable people.

This could be a further solution to guarantee the possibility to effectively start a new life, both for the children of homosexuals within Kakuma– who cannot access education because they are discriminated by other children – and for LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers themselves – who cannot continue their studies within the camp because they are harassed by other students..

Finally, Tobias notes how Kenya – along with Ethiopia and Sudan – is one of the main recipients of the EU funds, including those from the European Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF). The objectives that the EU set out to achieve by allocating a large part of these funds to these countries were: (i) to strengthen the resilience of local communities; (ii) to increase access to basic services for the population; (iii) to promote capacity building and, consequently, to improve access to the labour market for the most vulnerable categories of the population.

These funds are concretely allocated through a series of development cooperation programmes, which are implemented on the ground through the adoption of a series of projects – each aimed at achieving the objectives set by the EUTF.

During our interview, Tobias suggests that the amounts allocated for Kenya should also be discussed when reviewing European funds, since:

  1. the Kenyan authorities have shown themselves to be incapable of administering the funds allocated for the migration management. To date, this sector appears to be totally chaotic and highly disorganised. Moreover, corruption continues to be rampant, so that a very small percentage of these funds is allocated to the actual support of migrants;
  2. despite all the complaints made by local associations and NGOs about the condition of vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers – including LGBTQ+ – a totally derisory amount of these funds is allocated for the support of this specific category of people;
  3. funds earmarked to finance programmes which provide food support (one of the main objectives of the EUTF) have been almost entirely cut for no real reason;
  4. resettlement funds that are allocated annually are not used to resettle LGBTQ+ refugees residing in Kenyan refugee camps. These refugees, as we have highlighted in this investigation, are the ones who should be able to access this mechanism as a priority, due to the very nature of the mechanism of the resettlement.

What we ask to the international community and what we will do

We at Large Movements, together with International Support – Human Rights and Il Grande Colibrì, will continue to monitor the situation and lobby the European community for these demands to be met.

We will continue to produce material denouncing the conditions inside the camp and the attacks on the LGBTQ+ community living there, as well as follow developments at the negotiating table between the European Parliament and the UN.

Due to the content of some of the images, we will not publish all the material in our possession on our public channels, but we are ready to share it with any associations, activists, journalists and/or migration experts who would like to join us in advocating for hundreds of men and women who continue to suffer unprecedented violence – and even die – just to be free to love and express themselves.

Keep following our pages to stay updated on the results of our investigation.

The rainbow shines on Kakuma as well

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One Response

  1. I was friend with one of the people who died because of the fire. I thought her name was Jerry, because of her facebook page name. But then after she died I learned that her name is actually Chriton. Very recently I learned that Chriton wasn’t a gay man, she was a straight trans woman. A friend of hers told me about it. It’s something not many people know about, and I think it is something you should know about. Because it is the truth.

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Kakuma’s queer voice: G.’s story

In our previous articles we talked about the conditions of the LGBTQ+ community in Kenya and the human rights violations taking place inside the Kakuma refugee camp. We then took up the testimony of J, the first case in our in-depth look at human rights violations within Kakuma, and the testimony of A, a lesbian female guest at Kakuma. Continuing, then, the investigation that Large Movements APS is conducting together with International Support Human Rights, in this article we will analyze the specific situation of G., the fictitious name of an LGBTQ+ boy from Kakuma with whom we had the opportunity to speak. As reported in previous cases, G. also stated that he left his home country as a result of the various assaults he suffered because of his sexuality and sought refuge in neighboring Kenya. The hope of being able to live away from the fear and violence he suffered in what he once called “home” was his compass that guided him along his journey, but life in Kakuma turned out to be far more terrible than he could have imagined. The short stay in Kakuma G. is a Ugandan citizen. He fled his country when life in his homeland had become unbearable after several assaults he suffered because of his sexuality. He arrived in Kakuma in April 2020 and left a year later, in April 2021, when living conditions inside the camp had become very risky, having experienced numerous violent attacks, along with the entire LGBTQ+ community in Kakuma: he was almost set on fire in May 2020 and they tried to poison him twice. It is therefore not surprising that G. describes the conditions inside the Kakuma camp as “horrible.” Police and UNHCR staff negligence G. said he reported to the police and UNHCR staff each time he was subjected to an assault. However, all the emails he wrote were ignored to the point that in April 2021 he was forced to flee for his life after surviving yet another assault.He also told us that upon his arrival he was chosen as the spokesperson for LGBTQ+ people in Kakuma. And it is because of this close contact he has with other people inside the camp that he can assure us that every queer person he knows has experienced the same neglect from the authorities and UNHCR staff. Intimidation, threats, and arbitrary detentions are means often used to oppress the LGBTQ+ community in Kakuma and force them into silence, so much so that G. states that many UNHCR reports from Kenya share information and data that are not at all reliable or close to the truth of the camp, because such information is the result of the use of force on LGBTQ+ refugees, confirming that Kakuma is not a safe place for queer people and that they need and deserve international protection and to be relocated as soon as possible. The questionability of the management of relocations The management of relocations is also questionable. Relocations are so important to LGBTQ+ people in Kakuma because, first and foremost, they give them hope. Hope to live and love freely, to be the person they are, and to become productive members of society. Above all, relocation means freedom and security for G. and those in Kakuma who still live in fear, unable to move freely even when attacked. Although G. never applied for it, as according to him a relocation was implicit in his asylum application, since Kenya is a hostile country for queer people, he told us how the relocation situation was handled while he was in the camp: at first, UNHCR told them that there were only a few available resettlement places and that they were not able to relocate everyone. Then, under the pretext of the health emergency from Covid-19, they delayed the relocations but since the outbreak of the pandemic, the relocations have not happened yet. In addition, the relocations have been used as a weapon by the Kenyan government and sometimes UNHCR staff against the most active and vocal members of the LGBTQ+ community who sought to expose the violations taking place in the camp. Essentially, those who tried to report the very serious conduct in Kakuma, such as G., were threatened that they would never be transferred. In June 2021, after the death of 22-year-old activist Chriton Atuhwera in Kakuma camp two months earlier, G. and LGBTQ+ people inside the camp launched a petition to UNHCR demanding protection and to be transferred. UNHCR officials responded with intimidation to those who wanted to join the petition, saying they would be returned if they signed. “It’s not just about keeping quiet, but they have been proactive in silencing the LGBTQ community,” G. said on the matter. If you liked the article, share it!

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Leymah Gbowee

In October 2011 Leymah Gbowee, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakkol Kaman were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as a result of “their non-violent struggle for women’s security and their right to participate in the peace process“. Today, let’s talk about Leymah Gbowee and her perpetual commitment to women’s rights. Civil War in Liberia:Gbowee began her work as an activist with the group Liberia Mass Action for Peace (LMAP) in April 2003. Her native country, Liberia, had been in a state of civil war for 14 years. It all began in 1989 when Charles Taylor entered Liberia and aided by the rebel forces of the National Patriotic Front for Freedom, threatened the capital, Monrovia, and the government of Samuel Doe. After nine months, Doe was killed and Taylor took power. This did not stop the hostilities and although Taylor won the 1997 presidential election with 75% of the vote, a new civil war broke out that same year. Between 1989 and 2003, more than 270,000 people died, the neonatal mortality rate was 157 deaths per 1000 births, and the infant mortality rate for children under 5 was 235 per 1000. As a result of the conflict and the high infant mortality rate, 80% of the rural population was forced to migrate. Unfortunately, the conflict was characterized by the indiscriminate use of rape by all sides, including international troops who intervened to restore peace. Gbowee and other LMAP activists then began to protest against the violence: their rhetoric was based on concerns about the welfare of children and the future of the country. They used three tactics in particular: they organized public demonstrations to emphasize that the real victims of the conflict were women and children, they threatened to undress in public, and they established a political agenda to defend women’s rights both nationally and internationally. Taylor resigned in August 2003 and was forced into exile in Nigeria. A peace agreement was signed and in 2005 presidential elections were held which saw the victory of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: the first woman to be elected president in an African state.   The role of women in peace negotiations: Let’s look together at why these women were so influential. First, the women highlighted the fact that the war had brought only death and destruction. It was not a war for land, money or political power – it was a war that exterminated mothers and children. After that, Gbowee and the other activists emphasized their status as mothers and women and therefore as “guardians of society”. They emphasized their role as mothers and sisters to the men involved in the conflict and stressed the importance of national unity based on family. This rhetoric worked because in Libera the role of women, as mothers, is very strong and there is a sense of respect for them as they are seen as creators and sustainers of the community and nation. The men decided to attend the peace negotiations because their “mothers” had requested it. However, words alone were not enough to bring about a real peace agreement, so the women took action using an act of high symbolic value: they deliberately undressed in public. On July 21, Gbowee and the other activists entered the building where the negotiations were taking place and sat outside the room where the men were arguing. When they were threatened with arrest, Gbowee stated that she would not object but would first undress and shown herself to the assembly naked. She later explained that in Africa it is considered a terrible curse to see a woman, married and elderly, deliberately undress in public: that action would indisputably highlight the deep despair of Liberian women. Moreover, by undressing, she would deprive the men of their “masculinity” and the strength they had used with impunity throughout the conflict, raping and killing without restraint. In doing so, Gbowee was reclaiming her life and body, and in the process ceasing to be a helpless victim and becoming politically powerful and influential. The activists declared that they would only leave the building when Taylor and the other parties involved would actively participate in the negotiations. Negotiations then resumed and an agreement was finally reached. The importance of Leymah Gbowee’s work around the world: After the signing of the peace accords and the end of the war, Gbowee continued her political efforts outside Liberia’s borders. In 2006, she founded the Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa), which works to promote “women’s strategic participation and leadership in peace and security policies in Africa.“ Throughout her speeches and actions, Gbowee emphasizes the power of ordinary women and the symbolic value of the female body. In order to fight patriarchy and promote the power of women as agents of political change, it is crucial to unite as women, mothers, sisters and demand gender equality. We at Large Movements share this sentiment and feel it is important to share with you the story of Leymah Gbowee who has shown the world the influence women can have in peace processes and the true power of pacifism. If you liked the article, share it!

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pirateria-somala

Somali piracy

Somali piracy is often described solely and exclusively as criminal, but what if it has also another function, namely that of guardians of the sea? In this article, an attempt will be made to investigate the nature of the phenomenon, even if there are still few sources that show an alternative vision to the internationally diffused one. Therefore, we will try to identify the elements which define piracy not only as a criminal act, but also as an alternative water defence “force”, a service which the Transitional Government is unable to take full responsibility for. Historical background Modern piracy, which has developed mainly in geopolitically strategic areas, has assumed all the characteristics of the historical definition of “marauder of the sea”. Unlike its analogues, Somali piracy has acquired different characteristics which have made it a particularly difficult phenomenon to study and, above all, to eradicate. These differences are due to the presence of many factors, and in particular, the political situation which Somalia lives. This, in fact, has given rise to a series of key phenomena in the development of piracy. Therefore, the complexity of the Somali situation, lies in the existence and overlapping of different dynamics, local, but also regional and international, which necessitate an all-inclusive approach. However, in this article we will examine one of the many aspects of this phenomenon, trying to answer to the question on the nature of the piracy that has developed in Somali context. Using Somali terms, an attempt will be made to understand whether they fall into the category of burcad badeed, stricto sensu ‘marauders of the sea’, or badaadinta badah, ‘saviours of the sea’. Since the joint efforts of the international community succeeded in eradicating this problem in 2012, the seizure of the oil tanker Aris 13 in 2017 has raised again the attention to the problem, which had been dormant for years, to the area, also portending a return of the same piracy. This attack, however, seems to have been only a brief interlude due to the lowering of the guard of the measures undertaken until then and the withdrawal of the NATO forces of the “Ocean Shield” mission, which ended in 2016. But what if this is just a symptom of a return that could be even more dangerous than the previous one? In this framework, it could be useful to understand the nature of the acts of the Somali pirates and to understand if the initial role of defenders of the sea has disappeared during the evolution that piracy has undergone, becoming finalized only and exclusively to actions of depredation, or if this has only been “hidden” in order to more easily legitimize the actions carried out by the international community. Such an attempt, however, will be very difficult due to the scarcity of data and news by the ‘European eye’. Here, therefore, we will only try to provide some food for thought. Fishermen or professionals? When a political vacuum arose in the country in 1991 due to the fall of Siad Barre’s regime, it was immediately apparent that there was also no centralised structure capable of having effective control over the entire Somali territory and, consequently, its waters. It was from this situation that external actors, mainly European and Chinese fishing vessels and criminal organisations, began to take advantage. Intensive fishing and the dumping of toxic waste were the main motivations for local fishermen to improvise disorganised attacks on invading strangers. Despite this, foreign depredation cannot be defined as the only motivation. Indeed, a more complex picture is added to this: the lack of a centralised state able to take charge of society’s needs, a clan organisation of Somali society that acts as a different representative of order and bearer of principles of political organisation different from those of the modern and post-modern state, and a state of poverty and considerable humanitarian crisis. Therefore, until the 2000’s, one speaks more of a phenomenon aimed at survival, in which the boundary between pirate, fisherman and smuggler is very blurred. It can therefore be assumed that at this stage, although the population that derived its livelihood from the sea had reached considerable levels of frustration due to illegal foreign fishing activities, it had not managed to create a structure that could be considered as a ‘guardian of the waters’. In recent years, in fact, we have mainly witnessed the phenomenon that has been defined as ‘piracy of opportunity’, which can be deduced above all from its discontinuity, the low profitability of the attacks and the short range of action. However, it cannot be ruled out that it was during this period that the criminal-style piracy groups we are accustomed to knowing began to form and develop. In fact, according to a former Somali pirate leader, Farah Hirsi Kulan “Boya”, the passage to a professionalized piracy took place already in 1994. From fortuitous pirates of to a full-fledged coastguard? From the first sporadic and disorganised attacks, pirate activities in a few years changed completely and became a very profitable business. Many claim that there has been a shift from a protest phenomenon to one exclusively based on profit, although this may not be exactly the case. In a political context like that of Somalia, the Transitional Federal Government is the only institutional and internationally recognized power which is not able to extend its authority beyond Mogadishu, allowing other types of “political organizations” to take over control of the space. In fact, “for the entire Somali territory, every level of administration is, to a large extent, entrusted to the hands of clans, village chiefs and warlords” and it is among these leaders that we recognize the most influential figures in piracy. Some of the pirate organisations, which are defined as organised crime, also sought to assume a degree of institutionalisation. They wanted to demonstrate that they were able to carry out not only activities of pillage, kidnapping for ransom or, in any case, connected to enrichment, but also a function

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Ilaria-Alpi-Miran-Hrovatin-Somalia

Ilaria Alpi’s murder and the investigation of toxic waste trafficking in Somalia

On 20 March 1994 in Mogadishu, Somalia, Ilaria Alpi, together with her cameraman Miran Hrovatin, was murdered. The journalist had carried out several missions for TG3 since 1992 to report on the UN peace mission ‘Restore Hope’ and the Somali context of the civil war that broke out following the fall of Siad Barre’s regime, in 1991. The investigation of the Alpi-Hrovatin case focused on the journalist’s last report, which should have been broadcast on the evening of 20 March. Only fragments and incomplete footage of that report remain, as the full version never reached Italy. Neither the motive, nor the instigator, nor the executors of that murder are still clear. Giancarlo Marocchino is one of the main protagonists of the Alpi-Hrovatin case. He is a Piedmontese transporter who was an influential businessman in Mogadishu, for several years. For the SISMI, according to one of the declassified notes, he was “an able and cunning entrepreneur” to work for everyone and to disentangle himself in Somalia ravaged by civil war. According to SISMI, he was involved in the logistics and he was suspected of trafficking in arms and in toxic and radioactive waste. The latter are suspicions still not confirmed by the courts. In the background of the investigation, it is also necessary to keep in mind the Somali context, and in particular the Italian involvement in Somalia. The final report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the death of Ilaria Alpi and Miran Hrovatin, approved in February 2006, analysed various causes of the murder, taking also into account fundamentalism and criminality in the country. An analysis of Ilaria Alpi’s notebooks bring to  three lines of investigation from the themes of the last reportage: arms trafficking, toxic waste trafficking and the effects of Italian cooperation in Somalia. Italian cooperation in Somalia Before the beginning of the civil war in Somalia, Italy was a close ally of the government of Siad Barre, Somali president-dictator until 1991. For instance, Italy sold arms to Somalia which stockpiled them in various warehouses in the country, and they were object of interest of the militias and warlords, following the fall of the regime. It is generally acknowledged that Italy supported, economically and politically, Siad Barre even at a time when the regime appeared completely discredited in the eyes of international public opinion and the majority of the Somali people. Among Alpi’s lines of enquiry was Italy’s cooperation with developing countries, particularly Somalia. The journalist was interested in the phenomenon of aid in general and how it was managed, as well as whether it could have been used for illicit enrichment rather than the purpose for which it was given. In particular, Alpi was interested in the Garoe-Bosaso road and the Shifco fishing project. Italian parliament started development cooperation in Somalia in 1979, with substantial funding. In particular, during the period 1986-1989, the volume of Italian investment in Somalia and the Horn of Africa increased exponentially and it was only interrupted by the outbreak of civil war in 1992. The final report of the parliamentary commission states that in the decade 1981-1990, 80% of the funds were allocated to the implementation of projects defined as ‘physical’. Out of the total, 49% were allocated to the construction of large infrastructures, 21% to productive investments and 15% to investments defined as “socio-communitarian” (projects that can be considered as benefiting the population). This set-up of Italian cooperation has been marked by programming shortcomings and a lack of coordination with multilateral and international initiatives. Moreover, the actual success of these cooperation initiatives was heavily undermined by the prerogative to protect the interests of Italian companies, lobbies and pressure groups in Somali, not taking into account the real needs of the country. The analysis of these policies of international cooperation was conducted during the season of Tangentopoli. In this context, a number of enquiries brought to light a reality in which allocations for cooperation with developing countries were a significant part of the entire Italian bribe system. The investigations uncovered costly and unnecessary projects, multi-billion dollar allocations, bribes and trafficking of all kinds, including arms to Somalia. In this regard, the 1994 Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into Cooperation with Developing Countries went on a mission to Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya from 29 January to 31 January 1996. The report stressed that there had been many management errors and that a lot of money had gone into the wrong hands. Among the most controversial works financed by the Italian government there were Garoe-Bosaso road and the port of Bosaso, as well as the ocean fishing project and its fishing company ‘Shifco’. With regard to the road, the average cost per km was 605 million, which is disproportionate to the average expenditure in Italy, but also compared to other roads built with development cooperation funds in the Horn of Africa. Moreover, at the beginning of 1979, an attempt was made to undertake an ocean fishing project marked by disasters and failures. This led to the creation of the ‘Shifco’ company, which arranged for the transfer of fishing vessels after the anti-Barre war of 1990 to the waters of the Gulf of Aden. There is a suspicion that this initiative, characterised by serious design errors, served firstly to enrich private Italian and Somali groups, even not necessarily through illicit means. Arms trafficking in Somalia Before embarking on her last trip, Ilaria Alpi had identified the area of Bosaso, a port city in the north of Somalia, as an area of ‘journalistic interest’ and she had the intention to investigate there about arms trafficking and the intertwining with ‘bad cooperation’ and the trafficking of toxic waste. Indeed, Alpi pursue some research on the Shifco ships, looking for evidence. The last interview before the murder seems to focus on this aspect. The cameraman Alberto Calvi, with whom Alpi had worked on previous missions to Somalia, reported that the journalist had always looked for evidence in relation to arms and drug trafficking. As a possible lead

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Kakuma’s queer voice: A.’s story

In our previous articles, we discussed the conditions of the LGBTQ+ community in Kenya and the human rights violations taking place inside the Kakuma refugee camp.We then took the testimony of J, the first case in our in-depth look at human rights violations within Kakuma.Continuing, then, the investigation that Large Movements APS is conducting together with International Support Human Rights, in this article we will look at the specific situation of A., the fictitious name of a lesbian woman guest in Kakuma with whom we had the opportunity to speak.Like so many others living in Kakuma, A. fled her home country because of the discrimination she faced from friends and family because of her homosexuality and sought refuge in neighboring Kenya. The chance to escape the mistreatment and discrimination she endured and the hope of building a better life for herself were the driving forces that pushed her far from home, but the reality she came up against was as harsh on her as the one she escaped from. Arrival in Kakuma A is a Ugandan citizen. She fled her country when her family found out about her homosexuality. In fact, A. was strongly discriminated against and suffered severe homophobic attacks of various kinds, to the point that her family, before she managed to flee for Kenya, was about to force her into marriage. She arrived in Kakuma in November 2019 and still resides there. The violence and unheeded complaints As soon as she arrived, A. was faced with very difficult living conditions for the LGBTQ+ community residing in Kakuma. Indeed, the coexistence between queer people and other refugees led to several attacks and assaults at the expense of LGBTQ+ guests in the camp. Because of this, A. reports, both she and other members of the queer community residing in Kakuma are deeply afraid for their lives. In July 2020, what had been A.’s home in the camp was set on fire by other guests, and she lost almost all of her belongings in the fire, including basic necessities such as clothes and medicine. After all, the rest of the camp residents repeatedly reported that queer people like A. are not welcome, calling them “a curse” or threatening them with beatings, sexual assaults, and arson attacks.The situation has been repeatedly reported to UNHCR and the authorities, but both have consistently dismissed A. and failed to provide protection and safeguards from the severe violence suffered by A. and other LGBTQ+ residents. When A.’s house was hit by arson in July 2020, although she immediately reported the incident to UNHCR staff present in the camp, she received support only from the other queer residents of the camp, who provided her with the basic necessities she needed that were destroyed in the fire. Relocations One of the main problems preventing the provision of timely services and the effective guarantee of basic human rights is the extreme difficulty in obtaining information, particularly on relocations. In fact, UNHCR staff present in the camp and components of the RAS, the Kenyan government department that manages the entire relocation and refugee status granting process, do not provide clear information or at all. A. herself has never applied for resettlement not only because it is very difficult to get information about the necessary procedures (every time she has tried she has not been assisted, by the very people directly responsible for informing her about it) but also because of her status. One cannot access the resettlement program, in fact, if one has not been granted refugee status. Status which, according to Kenyan law, must be granted or denied within 6 months of the processing of the application. Despite the fact that A. has been in Kakuma for almost 3 years, however, he still has no news about the outcome of his asylum claim.The fact that he has not applied for relocation, therefore, does not mean that A. does not recognize its importance. So much so that A. told us that she believes that outplacement is the only option that can restore hope to LGTBQ+ people housed in Kenya given that in the context in which they currently find themselves, they cannot move freely, are not provided with basic necessities such as sanitary napkins, and live in fear of being attacked again.What’s more, she and all the other LGBTQ+ people in Kakuma are traumatized by the treatment they received in the camp. Most of all, they feel like their lives are stuck inside Kakuma, where every day is the same as the last, and they are very scared of the idea of growing old in the camp. A. wants to go back to school and finish her studies. He wants to find a job so he can support himself. He wants a better future for the children in the camp so that they can go back to school as they should, because, as he rightly says, education is a human right. If you liked our article, share it!

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Uganda: Safe Haven or Dust Under the Rug? We discuss this with Maëlle Noir

We often hear about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as in South Sudan, or the continuing violence and reprisals in the Central African Republic. However, we know very little about the people fleeing these conflicts, the refugees, their conditions, and especially about the plight of women fleeing to save both their lives and their families. This is why today we would like to emphasise a part that is often overlooked in conflict narratives: the people who are driven to flee from these contexts and who in the vast majority of cases, contrary to what is often falsely claimed, remain in Africa by seeking asylum in neighbouring states and do not choose to make the very dangerous journey to Europe. One of the African countries hosting a large number of people on the run is Uganda. Today we would like to talk about this with Maëlle Noir, an Irish Research Council PhD scholar at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway. Her PhD research addresses the question of gender-based violence against women refugees through an intersectional and decolonial feminist perspective, exploring the relevance of feminist lawyering as an alternative approach to legal practice in the Ugandan urban refugee setting. Maëlle has extensive experience in advocacy and community research as she has been working for the past five years with several national and local civil society organisations in India, Ireland, France and Uganda.  She is also a part-time research assistant in a European Union Horizon project on democracy and policy, collaborating with researchers in Slovakia, Austria, Italy and Ireland. Hello, Maëlle, it is a pleasure to have you here with us. Firstly, I would like to ask you about the refugee population reaching Uganda, which are the main nationalities asking for asylum in Uganda, What is the procedure to apply for asylum in the country and where are refugees hosted? It is important to start by stating that over 1.5 million refugees reside in Uganda which makes it the first-largest refugee population in Africa and the fourth-largest in the world. This can be explained by Uganda’s geographical location, at the crossroad of several conflict zones with neighbouring countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi, Eritrea, Rwanda, etc. Uganda also has a long ‘open door policy’ history which is financially and politically sustained by the Global North which supports the State in welcoming refugees fleeing conflict and prosecution. With regards to nationality, South Sudan, the DRC and Somalia are refugees’ predominant countries of origin in Uganda as they respectively constitute 57.1%, 32% and 4.1% of the total refugee population. However, when it comes to urban refugees, usually located in the capital city of Kampala, in the Southern part of the country, these are mainly Somali, Congolese, Eritrean, South Sudanese, Burundian and Ethiopian. The Ugandan Refugee Act 2006 expands the definition of a refugee provided in the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1969 Organisation of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa by including a gender ground. As such, anybody who is outside of their country of origin, owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order and has a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, political opinion or gender may be granted a refugee status. The procedure to seek asylum in Uganda varies depending on if the asylum seeker wishes to settle in a settlement (which is oftentimes granted based on prima facie or ‘automatic’ refugee status. Therefore, groups of people that come from a state UNHCR has recognised as meeting the objective requirements for refugee status. For these individuals, it should be easier and faster to obtain status because the burden of proof of the situation in the country of origin is completely non-existent. Inverted commas have intentionally been left on the term ‘automatic’, however, because in reality this presumption is almost never applied) or in the city (non-prima facie refugee, precisely, individuals not belonging to the ‘automatic’ mode) but in both cases, it remains relatively straightforward. For ‘automatic’ refugee status, asylum seekers who reach the border are transferred to one of the numerous reception centres upcountry for a short interview with an agent of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) before registration and obtention of the refugee status. This process takes between a few days and a maximum of a couple of weeks except if there is a particularly important influx of refugees. It is more difficult to obtain ‘non-automatic’ refugee status, especially to be able to settle in a city. The asylum seeker must register with OPM and go through a series of several interviewees before different stakeholders including a police officer, and an OPM reviewing status officer followed by a final case examination by the Refugee Eligibility Committee. According to UNHCR, around 87.5% of the refugee status applications were successful in 2022. By way of comparison, in 2022 in Italy, over 80% of asylum seekers were denied refugee status. Talking about Ugandan Refugee Camps, what are the reception conditions in the camps? Uganda is often praised by the international community as well as international media for its exemplary welcoming conditions which foster a ‘safe haven’ or even a ‘paradise’ for refugees. Indeed, on paper and in conformity with the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, asylum seekers who have secured their refugee status are automatically provided with a plot of land to cultivate, access to free education and health care as well as the right to work and freedom of movement. However, we know that theory usually drastically differs from practice and it is the case in the Uganda refugee context as well. The supposedly progressive non-encampment policy promoted by the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework is not very well implemented as freedom of movement remains conditioned to the obtention of a permit delivered by OPM and UNHCR. In the settlement, the monlthy allowance currently amounts to 13.000 Uganda

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