On
Dadaab &
Kakuma, Kerry
Concerned, UN
DSG
Downplayed,
Ban Family
Ties?
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May
11 -- Many
people,
particularly
those who
stand to be
most directly
impacted, are
worried about
the Kenyan
government's
orders about
the Dadaab and
Kakuma camps.
While the
First World's
approach to
refugees and
migrants
impacts more,
in Kenya it is
said that the
two camps'
closure would
diplace some
600,000
people.
On May 11, US
Secretary of
State John
Kerry issued a
statement of
concern, full
text below.
But at the UN
when on May 9
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
report “In
Safety and
Dignity:
Addressing
Large
Movements of
Refugees and
Migrants” was
presented by
Deputy
Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson,
Inner City
Press asked
Eliasson not
only about the
International
Organization
for Migration
proposal in
the report,
but mostly
about what the
UN is doing
about the
situation on
the Dadaab and
Kakuma camps.
Eliasson
replied that
“I just
received
information
about that
this morning.
I don't think
there is
anything about
turning back
or sending
back
refugees...
rather an
organizational
change inside
the Kenyan
government.” (Vine here, as Inner City Press
is no longer
able to
practically
download full
UN video,
after being BANned from its long time UN office,
see below.)
Many
have since
contacted
Inner City
Press angry
and amazed at
what Eliasson
said, asking
who could it
be who told
Eliasson and
other UN
leadership in
New York not
to take
seriously or
to downplay
the threats to
Dadaab and
Kakuma? Some
have asked
about the UN's
Resident
Coordinator in
Kenya,
Siddharth
Chatterjee --
who just
happens to be
Ban Ki-moon's
son-in-law.
"I am deeply
concerned by
the Government
of Kenya’s
decision to
close refugee
camps in
Kenya,
dismantle the
Department of
Refugee
Affairs, and
expedite the
return of
hundreds of
thousands of
refugees who
have sought
protection in
Kenya.
We strongly
urge the
Government of
Kenya to
maintain its
longstanding
leadership
role in
protecting and
sheltering
victims of
violence and
trauma,
consistent
with its
international
obligations.
We call on
Kenya to
uphold these
international
obligations
and not
forcibly
repatriate
refugees.
We deeply
appreciate the
hospitality
and commitment
that Kenya has
shown over
decades of
hosting
refugees.
We have long
supported
Kenya in
shouldering
this
significant
responsibility,
including
through
significant
contributions
in
humanitarian
assistance and
by resettling
many refugees
to the United
States.
We call on
Kenya to
continue its
support for
refugees and
voluntary
return
efforts, and
to continue to
work with
UNHCR and
partner
nations to
find durable
solutions that
respect
humanitarian
standards and
uphold
international
law. We
also urge the
Government of
Kenya to honor
its
responsibilities,
including the
2013
Tripartite
Agreement on
the voluntary
repatriation
of Somali
refugees
living in
Kenya.
We remain
committed to
working with
Kenya to
support
voluntary
returns that
are safe,
dignified and
consistent
with
international
law, as well
as helping
Kenya to
address
security
concerns
presented by
al-Shabaab and
other
extremist
groups."
As in the Sri
Lanka case, if
there is
something to
add - for
example, if
Chatterjee has
in fact pushed
back against
the Dadaab and
Kakuma orders
-- Inner City
Press will be
happy
to publish it.
For now, from
UNFPA Kenya, here is recent speech by
Chatterjee.
Long after the
May 9 noon
briefing,
delay due to
Ban's eviction
of Inner City
Press from its
office and
high-speed
line, here's video:
That
must have been
some Monday
morning UN
briefing, at
which the
situation in
Dadaab and
Kukuma was so
dramatically
downplayed. Is
today's UN
living in a
dream world or
an echo
chamber?
When Inner
City Press on
February 19
was told to leave
the UN on two
hours notice,
after covering
the
organization
for ten years,
it came as a
surprise. But
now we know
some of what
happened
behind the
scenes.
The incident
used as a
pretext in the
ouster
letter signed
by Under
Secretary
General
Cristina
Gallach, Inner
City Press'
attempt to
cover a
January 29
event in the
UN Press
Briefing Room
which was
nowhere listed
as closed, was
the type of
principled
disagreement
about
journalistic
rights that
led Inner City
Press to
refuse an
order to leave
a briefing by
French
President
Francois
Hollande
ostensibly
only for the
traveling
French press.
Inner City
Press wasn't
thrown out
then. But
something had
and has
changed.
While
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, when
asked about
the ouster,
said “That is
not my
decision,”
those close to
him say that
this crackdown
on the Press
was discussed
at a meeting
of Ban's
senior
leadership
team.
Ban's waning
tenure at the
UN is
embroiled in
scandal not
only of
peacekeeper
rapes under
Under
Secretary
General Herve
Ladsous but
more
dangerously
for Ban the
scandal of bribery
at the UN
by Macau-based
businessman Ng
Lap Seng, of
former
President of
the General
Assembly John
Ashe and
members of
Ban's
Secretariat.
The Office of
Internal
Oversight
Services audit
occasioned
by the
indictment of
Ng, Ashe and
others who had
since pleaded
guilty,
including
Francis
Lorenzo of
South South
News which
still under
Gallach has
its UN office,
named Gallach
as negligent,
at best. See audit
at Paragraphs
37-40 and
20(b).
Gallach
did no due
diligence in
allowing Ng's
Global
Sustainability
Foundation to
hold a corrupt
event in the
UN Visitors
Lobby, with
Ban present.
Gallach did no
due diligence
of Ng's Global
Sustainability
Foundation
sponsoring the
UN's slavery
memorial.
Gallach, who
had found that
some under her
in the
Department of
Public
Information
whom she had
ordered to
sign the
ouster letter
refused to,
said that
Inner City
Press had
broken the
rules and
norms. As time
has gone on,
she had been
unable to
specify which
rules - in
fact, when
directly asked
she refused to
provide a copy
of the rule
she claims to
be relying on.
Ban
heard about
the impending
ouster of
Inner City
Press... and
did nothing.
His supporters
point out to
Inner City
Press that Ban
also did not
speak in favor
of it. We'll
have more on
this.
Spain on the
other hand,
which got
Gallach the
position, has
as part of the
leverage it
has as a
Security
Council member
during the
selection of
the next
Secretary
General
decided to
drop Gallach
and seek to
put a
different
Spanish
official in a
different,
more
substantive
post: the
Office of
Disarmament,
current run by
Ban's senior
adviser Kim
Won-soo (who,
when asked
about the
ouster of
Inner City
Press and how
it makes Ban
looks, said
only, “You
have to talk
with
Cristine”).
But even if
Spain which
unwisely put
the
under-qualified
Gallach in the
DPI position
now sees the
error of its
ways, the
reality is
that Ban
Ki-moon's UN,
in the midst
of a
corruption
scandal,
ousted and
evicted the
critical Press
which is
pursuing the
story.
As Inner City
Press learned
more about how
Gallach got
the position,
and how she
(mis) used it,
the
retaliation
grew - to the
point of
throwing Inner
City Press'
files in the
street on
April 16, video here. Next, Gallach's
staff tore
down the sign
of the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
on the door of
Room S-303,
which opposes
censorship,
and have until
now ignored
Inner City
Press' formal
request
regarding its
office in
S-303. Others
said it was on
hold, despite
French and
Moroccan
moves. But
Gallach is
getting more
and more
desperate and
retaliatory,
and Ban still
claims,
despite the
above, “That
is not my
decision.”
We'll have
more on all
this. Follow @innercitypressFollow @FUNCA_info
, 
