High Court in Kenya has blocked Kenyan government's attempt to close largest refugee camp in world. Dadaab camp houses 330,000 refugees. Kenya's government wanted to close it and send 260,000 Somali refugees back to Somalia. The High Court decided it was wrong to send Somalis back just because of their nationality. judge said: "The government's decision specifically targeting Somali refugees is act of group persecution." He added that it was discrimination. Kenya's government said it wanted to close the camp because of security worries. It said that terrorist attacks in Kenya by Somalia-based al-Shabab group were planned in camp.
Dadaab was set up in 1992 to cope with people fleeing civil war in Somalia. It is made up of five giant camps and is run by United Nations. When Kenya's government said it would close camp, human rights groups around world became worried. They feared that sending back so many refugees to Somalia would create another humanitarian crisis. human rights group Amnesty International welcomed High Court's decision. It said Kenya had duty to protect refugees from harm. It said: "Today is historic day for more than quarter of million refugees who were at risk of being forcefully returned to Somalia, where they would have been at serious risk of human rights abuses."
