In just a month, Kenya seemed to have intensified efforts to protect its borders and bolster counterterrorism efforts against al-Shabab. In doing so, however, it has impeded the work of many humanitarian and development organizations delivering aid to thousands of Somalis within and outside Kenya’s borders.
On April 2, gunmen affiliated with al-Shabab attacked Garissa University College in northern Kenya, killing more than 140 students and teachers.
Five days after the attack, the Central Bank of Kenya revoked the licenses of 13 money transfer companies in the country as part of government efforts to prevent the financing of terrorism. Four days later, Kenya’s deputy president gave an ultimatum to the United Nations: Move the world’s largest refugee camp back to Somalia over the next three months or the government itself will relocate the hundreds of thousands of Somalis that have called the camp home for decades.