Two initiatives passed by the UN in 2016 changed the landscape for policies towards refugees. These were the Global Compact on Refugees and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework.
Kenya adopted the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework as one of the pilot countries in 2017. The framework set down commitments to be implemented in situations involving large-scale movements of refugees.
Kenya which also endorsed the global compact, signalled a shift in the way the country had run the camps and opened up the possibility of changing existing policy.
All these developments have played out in Kenya and its management of the Dadaab complex. The complex, along with a camp in Kakuma in Kenya and Pugnido, in the Gambella region, are among the oldest settlements in sub-Saharan Africa (and in the world) that are still open.
The Dadaab complex is illustrative of how the changes in refugee policy have worked – and not worked. Continue reading A look at global changes in refugee policies through the lens of Dadaab
