Kakuma (Kenya) : at least ten refugees killed in one week

These are killings which resulted from fights and attacks between the Burundian, Congolese and South Sudanese communities installed in the Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya. Four victims are of Burundian origin. Several other people, including children, were injured. The police intervened to limit the damage. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

It all started when two South Sudanese communities clashed. It was Thursday June 27, 2024. An initially light conflict pitted young people from the “Nuer” and “Anuak” ethnic groups, two large South Sudanese communities.

A corpse of a refugee found in Kakuma, June 2024

“We thought it was a fight or a conflict that was not going to escalate anyway. Because this is not the first time that these people have clashed here,” say witnesses at the extension of Kalobeyei, village two, the epicenter of the conflict.

The next day, two bodies were found not far from the Kakuma camp. That’s when the anger escalated. The two communities attacked each other for several hours. Result : several people injured.

At the weekend, young people from the Burundian and Congolese communities joined the endless fight. They wanted to support their “Anuak” friends, noted an SOS Médias Burundi reporter.

“In fact, Burundians and Congolese took advantage of this to be able to weaken the Nuer who constitute a serious threat to us who are considered refugees from the Great Lakes,” says a Burundian refugee.

For the moment, the police and local leaders have already established a provisional toll of ten dead and several injured, including a child.

“Some bodies were found, either in the camp or outside the camp. The conflict has escalated into small ambushes on roads leading to Kalobeyei. It took a major intervention by the police and the army to control the situation, the entrances and exits are well monitored,” indicates a community leader from Kakuma, who regrets that several refugees were arrested.

A South Sudanese refugee had his arm amputated in fighting between Burundian, Congolese and South Sudanese communities in Kakuma, June 2024

A Burundian community leader spoke of more than 20 deaths, insisting that several refugees from the three communities remain untraceable so far. The camp administration reintroduced night patrols and established a curfew from 8 p.m.

Refugees are demanding investigations to punish the guilty and deter this type of criminal act.

At the Kakuma camp, which shelters more than 200,000 refugees, including more than 25,000 Burundians, crime has become commonplace and the occupants denounce what they describe as “worrying laxity, or even complicity of the police.”

A man injured during clashes in Kakuma in northwest Kenya, June 2024