By WILBERFORCE NETYA
POKOT, KENYA: Twenty-five refugees who escaped from Kakuma camp were yesterday morning arrested aboard a Nairobi-bound bus by police in West Pokot County.
Police at Makutano roadblock arrested the refugees, who included 14 men, nine women and a child.
The officers suspected they had either escaped from the refugee camp or entered the country illegally, prompting the arrest and later arraignment in court.
They were later in the day charged with being illegally in the country contrary to Section 13 (2) (C) of the Citizenship and Immigration Act.
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In their mitigation, the suspects who admitted to have boarded the Nairobi-bound bus had different explanations when taking plea.
The court heard that some of the suspects were travelling to Nairobi to get specialised treatment while one of them said he had just visited his parents at the camp and was returning to the city where he stays.
Kapenguria Senior Principal Magistrate Washika Mocho, however, found that the suspects had legal documents to be in the country but had moved out of the camp illegally.
She subsequently ordered their immediate repatriation to the Kakuma refugee camp under the supervision of Kapenguria police boss.
Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana County has recently turned to be a transit point for foreigners entering the country illegally.
And as The Standard established, a human trafficking syndicate has thrived at the camp.
Brokers conduct their business from neighbouring countries and the Kakuma camp and then transport the foreigners through Lodwar and Kitale to Nairobi at a fee.
Human traffickers
The main human traffickers, as our investigations revealed, have employed the brokers and deployed them to the refugee camps in Kakuma and Daadab.
Ethiopians are the most trafficked with many of them seeking transportation to South Africa via Kenya with the promise of jobs and good living conditions down south.
But ironically, the Kenya Government has roadblocks along the Kakuma, Lokichar, and Kainuk, Kapenguria and Kitale highways meant to curb such movements.
Security agents manning major roadblocks have been accused of aiding foreigners transit without being noticed after being compromised by the agents.
