The recent summit on Somalia refugees held in Nairobi has further complicated plans by Kenya to close the Dadaab camp by the end of May. 

The resolutions of the summit held on March 25, require countries hosting Somali refugees to not only align their laws and policies to the 1951 Refugee Convention that does not allow forced repatriation, but to provide education, training and skills development for refugees to reduce their dependence on humanitarian assistance.

These resolutions by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) Special Summit on protection and durable solutions for Somali refugees and reintegration of returnees in Somalia, goes against the Kenya government policy to encourage voluntary repatriation and eventually close the over 26-year old Dadaab camp.

READ: Special Igad Summit to discuss Somalia refugee crisis

The camp, which was started in 1991 and is currently home to over 260,000 Somali refugees, was due to be closed last November but Kenya announced a six-month delay on “humanitarian grounds.”

The Kenya government said there is credible evidence that Dadaab has been a recruitment ground for Al Shabaab militants.

Human-rights agencies have opposed the closure, citing the country’s international obligation under the 1951 Refugee Convention to protect people fleeing from danger in their countries and seeking safety from harm and persecution.

This was a second setback to the Kenya government following a court ruling in February that quashed the government’s decision to close the Dadaab refugee camp on grounds that it was  “discriminatory, excessive, arbitrary and disproportionate.”

The case challenging the closure was filed by two human rights organisations — the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and Kituo Cha Sheria, supported by Amnesty International.

There are a total of 900,000 Somali refugees in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Djibouti and Yemen, many of whom are women and children.

The Igad summit that was attended by all the Igad heads of state that host Somali refugees, also called for alternative arrangements to refugee camps, urging host countries to facilitate the free movement of refugees and their integration into national development plans.