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As Piracy Prompts Worldwide Crackdown, Somali Refugees Suffer Unassisted

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Author Topic: As Piracy Prompts Worldwide Crackdown, Somali Refugees Suffer Unassisted  (Read 116 times)
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Bianca
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« on: May 06, 2009, 08:44:30 pm »









The insurgency is led by al Shabaab, a militant group that claims allegiance to al Qaida and that the State Department has designated a terrorist organization. In Kune's southern town of Bardheere, the militants instituted Islamic law and levied high taxes on businesses. Kune was forced to close her tea stall because she couldn't afford to pay.

"Al Shabaab is the superpower in that region," she said.

However, the Islamists' hard-line ways have sparked a backlash among Somalis, the vast majority of whom favor a moderate form of Sunni Islam . Last month in Bardheere, the Islamists clashed with a secular, pro-government militia called Ahlu Sunna Waljamaa, which has formed in recent months to battle al Shabaab.

After several days of gunbattles, Kune grabbed her 13-year-old son and jumped on a minibus that was heading to Kenya . They sneaked across a border that Kenyan authorities have closed for security reasons, but it's so long and unregulated that bus drivers routinely cross it at night, charging about $90 for the passage.

Human rights groups have sharply criticized Kenya for closing the border and for sending captured refugees back to Somalia , in violation of international laws against deporting asylum seekers back to their countries of origin. In a recent report, Human Rights Watch said that Kenyan authorities had deported possibly thousands of Somali refugees, "thereby violating the most fundamental part of refugee law."

Still, some 9,000 new refugees were registered in January alone, the largest monthly tally in more than a year.

Besides the constant threat of violence, a long-running drought in Somalia has decimated the sheep and goat herds that many families rely on for their livelihoods. Aid agencies estimate that more than 3 million people — half the country — need emergency assistance and that 200,000 children are severely malnourished.
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