Kakuma-Kalobeyei (Kenya): police hunt down criminals

The Kenyan police have multiplied search and raid operations on centers in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei camps arresting refugees in connection with investigations into rampant crime in the two settlements in northwestern Kenya. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The objective of these searches is to fight against thefts and ambushes committed by strangers, as reported by refugees.

The most populated centers of the Kakuma camp and its expansion of Kalobeyei were targeted.

“It was around half past midnight when several police officers were deployed that night. At least five people were arrested, they were still in the bistros in the center of village II, not far from the market. The arrested included Burundians who were already circulating at 1 a.m. in the villages”, testifies a refugee who attended one of the recent police operations.

Refugees welcome this police initiative to fight crime.

“Often, the perpetrators of motorcycle theft or ambushes have meetings at night. And the police have targeted villages in which this banditry is frequent. We hope that these roundups will discourage this upsurge in crime that has been observed lately,” they say.

These refugees demand severe penalties for troublemakers caught red-handed or found criminally responsible.

Not single week can go by without the police being alerted on cases of crime in this camp which hosts more than 200,000 refugees, including 20,000 Burundians.