Local activists say Kenya is singling out Somali refugees in a clampdown that has seen about 3,000 people detained. Human rights activists have compared detention facilities for refugees arrested by the Kenyan government to “concentration camps”. Prisoners go days without being fed and families are not allowed to visit without paying officials bribes, according to Almin Kimathi, a local campaigner. Around 3,000 refugees, mainly of Somali origin, are being held for what authorities claim are security reasons. Kenya blames Somalia-based fighters for a number of attacks on its soil. Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa reports from Nairobi.
By Dr.Paul Bundi Karau I arrived at Kanyakine High School on 18th February 1999 a small village boy. I had never been to a boarding school, and certainly this is the furthest from home I had ever gone. The boys who were assigned to escort me to Mungania dorm looked at my stunted height and loudly wondered how I would survive in Beast's school. "Who is Beast?" I asked in bewilderment. "You will know." Musyoki answered curtly. It didn't take me long to know who Beast was. The following day, as the 10 o'clock tea was being served, I heard a commotion, with boys leaving their tea and running helter-skelter towards the classrooms. I was a fresh mono, so I didn't know what was happening. I ran along the pavement, and came upon a mighty man, who appeared to be adjusting his trousers. He yanked his belt and thrust one whip towards me. I had encountered Beast himself. He was tall, imposing, burly and endowed with a thunderous voice that could re...
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