Oral History Migration

Before starting the interview, knowing what migration, immigration and refugees is was very important. According to, Tearfund Organization, (2017), migration is the movement of people from their original location to another location that is inhabited by other people. Migration can be of different forms; that is, international migration that involves the movement of people between different countries or internal migration that involves movement within a country-for instance, from rural to urban areas and vice-versa. With these two categories of migration, it is evident that Fatima Mohammed and collogues in Kakuma Camp, fall under the category of international migration. This is because their migration involved movement from one country to another, that is, from Somalia to Kenya. The implication of this would be the denial of humanitarian assistance from international bodies that deal with the issues of refugees such as UNHCR.

With that introduction, below are the things that I learned from my interview with Mrs. Fatima Mohammed. My interviewee is a mother of six children with whom she stays with at the camp following the demise of his husband, Mr. Adan Mohammed. According to her, the president has encountered so many challenges that have affected his way of governance. For example, she explains how the current regime is filled by corrupt officials who instead of safeguarding the interest of common citizens, they are using the power they have to fulfill their self-interest. This has led to the emergence of many complains from the citizens, and as a result, the state is always at the risk of experiencing civil war anytime. This situation has also led to the emergence of militia groups who justify their actions by stating that they are protecting the interest of the poor people of Somaliland.

However, some of their actions are so extreme to be seen as acts of terrorism by the local government and other international agencies. Following this, I was interested in knowing why the Kenyan government wants to do away with the Kakuma Camp and take back the people of Somalia back to their mother-land. It was clear that the Al Shabaab militia attacks have also affected Kenya in one way or another. For example, the militia group has taken responsibility for all latest terror attacks in Kenya. Following increased insecurity in Kenya, the government has argued that Kakuma is either holding members of Al Shabaab or sympathizers. The government said by destroying the Kakuma camp, and the militia group will have nowhere to hide in Kenya.