"Many Kenyans are aghast with the blame game between the Immigration, Foreign Affairs and Internal Security ministries over the deportation blunder of four United Arab Emirates nationals, which has led to diplomatic falling out between Kenya and Dubai.
Many Kenyans who do business with that country and others who transit through it have now felt the consequences of the Government action. Dubai, whose people are not uniquely recognised for their academic prowess, is demanding Kenyans to flash out degrees.
Why is the UAE country so particularly distraught over this deportation? Is it the first time nationals from that region have been unceremoniously ejected by our hapless security forces? To the best of my recollection, it is not the first time, indeed it happens frequently. Not just to UAE nationals but also others from the wealthy Gulf countries who come for business or holidays.
Just a day after the UAE nationals’ arrests, three Somalis on Australian and US passports were arrested as terror suspects at Wilson Airport, enroute to Somalia. In the same week, two Pakistani nationals were also arrested under the same suspicion at Malaba, coming from Uganda. The list goes on. Indeed, in that week alone, media reports alarmingly indicated over a dozen terror suspects were arrested.
The pattern is the same – terror suspects arrests unprofessionally leaked out or proudly paraded to the media. Then, nothing is ever heard about it: police for lack of evidence invariably releases the suspects. Or in other instances, suspects are reported to have bribed their way out. The case of Hussein Farah Hanshi who reportedly escaped from police cells in Busia in March this year came barely a year after Fazul reportedly escaped arrest in Malindi on a tip off.
It is now apparent we have a dysfunctional and rogue security apparatus that may have turned the anti-terror war into a cash cow and lacks the integrity to handle this important role. Any light-skinned Muslim, particularly of Arab, Pakistani or Somali extraction, is now fair game for the disgraced Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU). They have arrested dozens especially in Eastleigh and Mombasa but no one ever gets indicted in court. When police mounted the infamous crackdown on Somalis early this year, the media reported that dozens were taken to ATPU for interrogation, and nothing has been heard about them since. Muslim human rights groups have often complained that the unit is extortionist, and uses threats to fleece suspects before releasing them.
ATPU and NSIS agents have taken charge of Immigration, routinely arresting people at airports and even in hotels on immigration related offences, and as stated by the Foreign Affairs Assistant Minister last week mainly to extort bribes. Early this year, a prominent Nairobi businessman was arraigned in court by ATPU, according to media reports, on suspicion he obtained his ID card unlawfully 11 years ago. In 2008, the security agents returned eight Kenyans to the country from Ethiopia after they were renditioned illegally.
It is not enough for the Immigration Minister to lament that Internal Security and Foreign Affairs have encroached in his docket. The legality or otherwise of an ID, passport or visa issued by his office cannot be used by these agents to ‘terrorise’ Kenyans or visitors to our country. The security concern is real and just but the end cannot justify the means. Immigration matters can and should only be determined by that Ministry, and must not be used as a gravy train.
Muslims generally believe these security agents work in cahoots, and at the behest of Western security agents. Indeed, the Task Force appointed by the President in 2007 to look into Muslim grievances submitted their report to the President in July 2008 and reportedly confirmed FBI and M16 routinely access and remove suspects from police custody. It is therefore likely that these agents act irrationally in order to remain relevant to those who control the purse strings.
I have no doubt that the action of these security agents will likely place the country at risk rather than protect it. The world over, the war on terror has been discredited for its deceptive propaganda and abuse of human rights. The concern about ethnic or religious profiling is a key factor in the decision by human rights groups and politicians for rejecting the proposed anti-terror law in the country. Above all, the symptomatic corruption in Government seems to permeate even in key security agencies, exposing the nation to ridicule and potential threats.
—The writer is a political economist and former MP for Mandera Central." Courtesy of Digital Standard.
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