Life of uncertainty for Pemba asylum seekers

Singing and cheering, they usher in a new day the way they know best - swimming. The young and middle-aged male swimmers are some of the 2,303 asylum seekers from the isle of Pemba and a few from Zanzibar who escaped bloody fighting between police and supporters of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) which started on 27 January.

The clashes are believed to have claimed the lives of at least 30 people with several others injured. Six of the asylum seekers arrived at the port at the weekend, UNHCR said. Their day now starts at about 05.00 a.m. local time (02:00 GMT) with prayers at a mosque at the Shimoni shopping centre, Kwale district on the Kenyan coast. From the mosque, they proceed to the ocean to bathe or swim. Their arrival is heralded by shouts, songs, chants as they prepare themselves for swimming competitions as individuals or teams. Watching or listening to them, one has an image of a contented, happy crowd at peace with all around them.

As it approaches 08.00 a.m. (05:00 GMT), most of them retreat to the temporary camps, their new homes since their arrival at the Kenyan coast, at the Shimoni Department of Fisheries’ compound. The temperatures steadily climb and the atmosphere is heavy with humidity. After a cup of tea or coffee, the asylum seekers set out trying to find something to keep them busy.

They break up into small groups and engage in intimate low-toned discussions. They like keeping together according to their clans or areas of origin back home. Others spend long hours going through religious instructions. Some stroll back to the shopping centre and sit on the verandas or stand under the single tree in the middle of the shopping centre. A few of them can afford one thing or the other from the shops and the little hotels at the centre.

The population in the area has definitely increased and according to the local transport (matatu) operators, there are many people travelling now to and from Shimoni following the arrival of the “refugees”. Mothers who wake up much earlier to wash clothes, carry on with “house” chores like preparing some “meals” for their young ones. The children spend their day playing, oblivious of their plight, while the elderly find their slot in the different groupings. The 17 politicians also take their corner to compare notes on whatever news they have heard concerning their situation.

The young men, who cook in turns for the entire group, start preparing for the days’ lunch. As some ferry firewood from the store, others carry water to the communal cooking point.
UNHCR trucks some 26,000 litres daily from Diani in Kwale district for their use in cooking and drinking, it provides the firewood, most of the utensils. The group has found itself having to start eating foods alien to their diet which mainly comprise of sea foods and rice.

“The other day we brought cabbages and they had a problem. They did not know how to cook it so we asked the locals to do it for them,” UNHCR’s Programmes Officer Peter Karanja told IRIN.
UNHCR has been supplying the food rations, complemented by private organisations and individuals. It says that with availability of more funding, it could provide more of the basic needs.

The afternoons are very slow and heavy-going for the visitors, especially because they do not have anything to do. “We just have to sit or sleep,” a Member of Parliament (MP) told IRIN. “We just escaped the way we were. It is not home, so what can one do?” “Our future is very uncertain here or even back at home,” he added.

After 04:00 p.m. young and middle-aged men rush back to the ocean to do what they love most, swim. Some then go to the mosque for the evening prayers as others gather in the roomy ‘Nilipi’ eating place at the shopping centre.

Here, the radio is tuned to the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC’s) Kiswahili service at 6.30 pm local time. The volume is increased and there is absolute silence. They also listen to Pemba radio. “We get to know what is going on back at home and what our leaders and the government are doing or saying,” a young man Khamis told IRIN. A few traders in cloves also row their boats with the goods from Pemba to Shimoni almost daily and often update the “refugees” on the situation.

The visitors then retire to the “camps” where they sleep in huge tents donated by UNHCR and other aid agencies, local NGOs and individuals. Some of the tents can accommodate between 50-70 people. Men and women sleep in separate tents, although those who escaped as a family are allowed to stay together. So far, UNHCR has put up 13 permanent latrines for the visitors’ use. “These we intend to hand over to the local community after the visitors leave,” Karanja noted.

“We have brought the lives of those who lived here and were using this office to a standstill,” another MP, Khalifa Mohammed Issa told IRIN.
More than 20 Kenyan police officers were deployed to Shimoni after the arrival of the “refugees”. “But they are very peaceful people. They are very organised and very cooperative,” Chief Inspector of Police Frederick Marete told IRIN. “We don’t have any problem with them except that UNHCR has refused to put them in a fenced or surrounded area,” he noted.

“The asylum seekers are not detainees nor criminals. They are not in a detention camp so we cannot put them in an enclosed area,” Karanja said.
UNHCR depends on the local health facilities. It says it will help replenish the facilities with medicines. Most of those who arrived at Shimoni port with injuries have now been discharged from the Msambweni district hospital.