…not, however, deterred by the fact that the borders are closed. I know, they must have heard that the streets of Nairobi are paved with AOR’s* for sale. From the Voice of America:
As the humanitarian crisis in Somalia worsens, the influx of Somali refugees into Kenya has grown sharply. This, despite Kenya’s closing its borders early last year. Human Rights Watch is calling on the Kenyan government, UN agencies and foreign donors to take action to help the refugees.
It looks like everyone is into corruption, so is it any surprise that Somalis were getting into the US fraudulently.
The influx of Somalis into Kenya came despite Kenya’s ordering the border closed in January 2007 due to the growing conflict in Somalia. Simpson says, “The closure has not come without a cost to refugees. Because the border is closed, the Somali refugees have to pay people smugglers, who take them across the border in order to avoid corrupt Kenyan police, who, if they catch the refugees, detain them, demand bribes from them. And we have testimony from refugees, who say that they have been detained in police stations inside the camps and in towns around the camps, where they were beaten and held in appalling conditions, and deported back to Somalia when they were not able to pay bribes.”
Where are the Somali refugees getting money to pay people smugglers and to buy the AOR’s? Might it be from remittances from Somalis already in the US?
* AORs are Affidavits of Relationship used to bring so-called relatives to the US and are supplied by American “anchors.”