Name? Fred Matiangi
Westphalian identity? Kenyan
Age? He likes to keep personal matters private, therefore we do not know, maybe 60ish?
Why is he in the news? In a tweet, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Kenya issued a “14-day ultimatum to have a roadmap on the definite closure of Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps.” These two camps host a total of 387,761 refugees, mostly Somali, and have existed for over 30 years now.
Why do we care? Matiangi and his ministry did not give any particular reason for this action but it is most likely about a territorial conflict between Somalia and Kenya. Both claim a narrow triangle of territorial waters around 100,000 square kilometers off their coasts in the Indian Ocean. This territory is home to lucrative oil and gas reserves and who has sovereignty over it is about to be decided by the ICJ. It seems like Matiangi wants to add pressure to the situation.
Why should you care? The fact that refugees or migrants are used as deadweight in negotiations is nothing new in our world, looking at you US, EU and Malaysia. The faith of 387,761 refugees scores an 8/10 on our how much you should care scale. Maybe the world should look at Colombia for an example on how to properly respond to a humanitarian crisis?
Who else cares? President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo. He is concerned over 387,761 refugees coming back to Somalia and the ICJ ruling coming up.
Any further comments? If this massive amount of refugees is forced to return to Somalia, which is currently not prepared to deal with them, then Matiangi will have reached his goal of moving Somalia into the light of a failed state in front of the ICJ. With this, the case is likely to result in a ruling in Kenya’s favour over the disputed region. All this on the backs of 387,761 refugees…
