Posts about International Getaway, Catalyst, and our Cambodia Yard Sale are on the way but right now it is important that I ask for your help in an urgent matter.
Yesterday I received an email from a good friend and mentor from my days back in St. Louis. He let me know about an incredibly tense and potentially deadly situation happening in Kenya right now. Below are some facts and a timeline about the situation but if you don't have much time, here is the bottom line. UNLESS WE DO SOMETHING IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS, 200 Kenyan refugees could be killed in a refugee camp in Kenya.
Right now a great way to start is to sign this petition on change.org. You can also read the information below and decide if you want to call/email your congressman or senator to ask them to do something.
I believe that our God is a god of justice and that he wants us to be a part of his healing work in the world. I believe this is one way that we can be a tangible part of that healing. Please prayerfully consider signing the petition then reposting this blog post so others can sign as well.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Banyamulenge Refugee Crisis
Media and Volunteer Fact Sheet
The Current Situation:
•150 Banyamulenge (Tutsi Congolese tribe) refugees remain detained in the Dadaab refugee camp near the Somali border, separated from their families, and without access to drinkable water and basic facilities. They are in imminent danger and have received multiple threats from Al Shabaab members in Dadaab camp due to the Christian nature of their tribe. At last contact, they had not eaten for 36 hours.
•Kenyan police have been arresting refugees in the streets, taking them from their homes, detaining them in prison, and relocating them to refugee camps – with or without proper documentation.
•The Tutsi Congolese have survived two massacres in refugee camps. In 1997 500 of their people were killed
in the Mudende Camp Massacre in Rwanda, and in 2004 250 were killed in the Gatumba camp in Burundi. The Kenyan police have placed this people in a situation where they fear a 3rd massacre is likely.
•***URGENT UPDATE 5/20 (Those in the camp have been informed they will be relocated within the camp, to a place where many members of Hutu Burundians and Al-Shabaab are living (It is reported, but unconfirmed, that 7 people were killed at this location on 5/19). The Hutu Burundians are the primary ethnic group that killed 166 of the Banyamulenge in the Gatumba Massacre in 2004,and the Al-Shabaab have threatened to attack the Banyamulenge. They are in very serious, very urgent danger. )
•***URGENT UPDATE 5/21. Those inside the camp were informed that the Al-Shabaab intend to attack and kill all Christians in the camp and any police that stand in their way on May 27th. It is unknown how certain this attack is, but the Banyamulenge inside the camp believe this threat to be both real and imminent.
Background: Recent Targeting of the Banyamulenge Population
Sunday, May 4:
•Armed Kenyan police forcibly entered a church service in Kasarani Kenya (near Nairobi), and arrested almost 200 refugees – mostly from the Banyamulenge tribe, a Tutsi community who have fled genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
•They were told that they would be taken to a stadium, where their documentation would be checked – those with proper documentation would be released, and those without would be deported or relocated to refugee camps.
•All 200 refugees have proper documentation and have lived peacefully in Kenya for years.
•They were never allowed to present documentation, but were taken to the Kasarani jail where they were detained without food or water for five days. Among the men, women, and children arrested, were pregnant women, sick people, and breastfeeding mothers who were separated from their babies. No concessions were made.
Wednesday, May 7:
•They were told they would be forcibly relocated to a refugee camp. They demanded two things. First, they wanted to speak with a Kenyan official and be permitted to present their documentation, so that they could return to their homes. Second, if their petition was denied and the government insisted on sending them to a camp, they wanted to retrieve their children so that their families would not be separated. Both requests were denied. In response to their requests, they were tear-gassed and beaten.
Thursday, May 8:
•All 200 were taken to the Dadaab refugee camp near the Somali border, placing them in imminent danger. Dadaab camp is almost entirely Muslim, and the Banyamulenge are a Christian tribe. They have been repeatedly threatened by the Al-Shabaab inside the camp and have been notified of their intention to attack.
•They fear for safety and lack access to clean water.
Needed Change: A Humanitarian Appeal to the Kenyan Government
We are urging the Kenyan government toward 4 main initiatives:
•Immediately release the Banyamulenge who have been arrested and detained in the dangerous Dadaab camp, and allow them to return to their families in Kasarani
•Exempt the Banyamulenge from the order requiring all refugees to be detained in refugee camps, and grant them protection as law-abiding, peace-seeking, friends of Kenya
•Expedite the cases of the Banyamulenge who are seeking to relocate to countries that wish to host them, so that they may begin peaceful lives and work towards long-term settlement with their families
•Identify more appropriate and humane ways of initiating national security that are in keeping with international human rights laws and with Kenya's long history of being a citizen of the global community and offering asylum to displaced people. We urge Kenya to consider methods that do not further displace refugees and those seeking asylum or separate families.
The Historical Context:
•Tension has been mounting between Kenya and a Somalian terrorist group that is connected to Al-Qaeda, Al- Shabaab. Kenya began sending troops into Somalia to address the problem, and Al-Shabaab has responded by targeting Kenyan urban centers with violent acts of terrorism.
•Kenyan police believe that Al-Shabaab is using refugee camps, with contacts in Urban centers, to launch these attacks.
•Attacks include a bus bombing in 2012, the shopping mall attack in Nairobi in September of 2013, and most recently gunmen opening fire in a church in Mombasa.
•In order to tighten security, Kenya has issued “Usalama Watch,” designed to help Kenyans identify suspicious persons and report unusual activity. Under Usalama Watch, Kenya has issued an order that all refugees with proper documentation should be contained in refugee camps and those without should be deported.
•This order is separating families, and continuing a cycle of suffering, displacement, and violence against innocent refugees. It is being enacted indiscriminately, across all ethnicities, regardless of history, peaceful nature, health conditions, or family situations.
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