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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Somalia: Somali Lawmakers Censure Kenya Over Expulsion Remarks

20 January 2010

Some members of Somalia's transition parliament have voiced their criticism over remarks by Kenya's Immigration minister to expel Somali politician from the country.

The lawmakers numbering 50 held meeting in the restive capital Mogadishu to discuss and then declare their stand against the decision by Nairobi to expel all Somali lawmakers currently residing in its country.

"Kenya's decision is the biggest blow that has hit Somalia's parliament. But we lay our blames on the top organ of the parliament because it has failed to reconvene the parliamentary sittings," said Lawmaker Bood Abdale Magan who addressed reporters after the meeting.

On Tuesday, Kenya's Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang said his country would not tolerate the behaviors of Somali politicians to abandon their country and stay in Nairobi.

He accused them of largely causing the chaos in the war-torn country with some even using Nairobi to undermine the fragile UN-backed transition federal government.

Kajwang said his government is contemplating on telling the Somali lawmakers to register with the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR or return to their homeland.

These as Somali embassy in Nairobi confirms that lawmakers who arrested in a security raid at a Somali-populated suburb in the capital were freed after sending a protest note to the Kenya's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Somali Ambassador Mohammed Ali Nur (America) said several Somalis were also released from the jails.

The arrest of Somalis has attracted criticism from all quarters of the country and neighboring countries with Somali leaders accusing Nairobi of economical oppression.

"I think this is not a security operations but an economic war against Somalis," said Billow Kerrow, A well-known Kenya-Somali politician.

Somalis largely own businesses in Eastleigh, a suburb in the heart of Nairobi, which is also referred to as a 'city within a city'

Kenya, regarded as the second peaceful home for Somalis, was in the forefront in brokering a peace treaty for Somalia leading to the establishment of a transitional government.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201001200984.html.

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