Last night at one o’clock were gun shots in group eleven, zone six in Kakuma refugee camp.
This was an attempt to loot a shop located along the road opposite, Jebel Marra Primary School and the booth which provides water to zone six. This is an area occupied by Somali new arrivals from Dadaab.
The criminals broke the gate. Meanwhile the shop was fenced out. They were unable to break the second gate to get people to ask for money as their normal routine. In a while came an ambulance heading for the hospital which they targeted with bullets to return to Kakuma town where it came. The thieves shot four bullets, luckily nobody was harmed as Shemal, a neighbour said. While they had not got anyone to threaten or shoot dead, they made their way to their dwelling shooting two bullets in the air again.
The nearest police located at Rajaf Primary School didn’t go to rescue. The rest of the people were praying specially the Sudanese churches till the guns were silent. «Police from Kakuma 4 came,» said Shemal. «These police here are not police.»
These Somali men claimed that these people had been buying and monitoring the shop. Only shops located in Oromo community and Ethiopian community in zone five were said to be safe. They were fenced at the time when shooting at night was on daily basis. Besides, they are populated thus the few bullets believed to be in their guns (criminals) eventually get finished and they are caught. None of the criminals was identified.
Refugee communities always device a mechanism of defense by throwing stones or holding spears or swords. Whoever comes to your home shooting is a murderer. Before you are killed you have to protect yourself. These Somali told me that they protected themselves and that’s why the thieves were unable to take anything. Whichever means they used, they didn’t tell.
Kakuma Refugee Camp in history had had these night attacks on Christmas day which led to loss of several lives. Three quarters of the graves you will find at the cemetery are believed to be from these attacks. Only a few can survive their bullets. In 2004, was a moment a Sudanese was accused by a national who claimed his wife and another man were killed in Kakuma two phase two. They were said to have been thrown into a pit. Conversely, it was believed that they were caught at night trying to rob a certain home.
In 2008, when Sudanese were repatriated, the crime rate was high. Fences were made to prevent robbers, but they came up with camels’ skin. The skin helped them pass over thorny fences to steal whatever they needed. The defense mechanism was also there using spears which scared them. Each and every community in the camp planned to buy whistles agreed by community and group leaders. When they attacked a home, a whistle was blown to scare them. That made it easier to get the communities protected and security too was tight. Only a few communities still have this defense mechanism.
The current Somali community which was relocated to Kakuma from Dadaab are now suffering this hardship they claim to be the reason for their relocation from Dadaab. These attacks did and most of them still occur in December though the rest of the months can have.
This morning, a certain Somali family had begun to close the gate, enclosing the shop.
This issue in spite of security persists. I never know when it ends.