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MEDIAWATCH: Displaced Kenyans caught in deadlock

by joanne-tomkinson | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Tuesday, 8 April 2008 15:14 GMT

Children still not reunited with their parents; camps hit hard by heavy rain; malaria and flu flourishing - this is the picture for 300,000 Kenyans still displaced by violence after last year's disputed elections. As the political crisis deepens, many are concerned about the implications for those still homeless in the country.

For Jeffrey Gettleman, writing in the International Herald Tribune, it's the country's internally displaced people (IDPs) who are paying the highest price for the political deadlock that has hit Kenya's power-sharing process.

"Top politicians have been preoccupied with haggling over cabinet posts and forming a coalition government," Gettleman writes, adding that many are worried the new expanded government - predicted to be over 40 ministries strong - will eat up money needed to help resettlement efforts.

The rainy season is expected to hit people living in camps hard, and many would like to return to their homes. But fear is a major obstacle, leading many to resettle in areas where their ethnic group dominates. Without adequate government protection, this is seen as the only way to guarantee safety, he writes.

For the Kenyan media, meanwhile, the plight of the country's internally displaced population raises many questions about the country's future - and its past.

Writing in Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper, Justin N. Kimani says the country's future depends on political leaders giving sufficient attention to resettling IDPs. Ongoing peace hinges on forgiveness and reconciliation, he says, and so far politicians have spent more time on the details of power-sharing than helping people back to their homes.

"The patience of the refugees, their relatives and friends is fast running out," Kimani writes. "If this happens, any calls for reconciliation, whose prerequisite is forgiveness, will now be more difficult to heed."

Conditions look set to get even worse for those living in camps as the rainy season has now started. The prospect of water-logged tents and over-spilling latrines looks set to increase the hardship for those who still remain displaced by violence.

"The government should mobilise resources speedily to show real commitment to resettling the refugees immediately and institute the reconciliation process," he writes.

For Dennis Onyango, writing in Kenya's East Standard newspaper, the needs of the country's IDPs raise serious questions about the country's historical legacy.

Long-running disputes over the unequal distribution of land still haunt Kenya and must be dealt with as a priority, according to Onyango, who says that many of today's displaced people have been suffering due to land clashes for years.

"It is now acknowledged that buried in the violence that rocked Kenya over disputed election results are issues like land ownership, anger over past unpunished crimes and unequal distribution of resources," he writes.

For Kenya to move on, history must be properly dealt with and that means giving IDPs proper attention, Onyango says. "Land or lack of it is a recurrent problem that has gripped Kenya since independence", and this is the issue that should be dealt with above all others, he writes.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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