Kenyan authorities have decided to fence off part of its eastern borders, especially along the Lamu coastal region. The move comes after years of terrorist attacks by Al-Shabab, and growing calls to stop illegal immigration from its war-torn neighbour, Somalia. Lamu Governor Issa Timamy was pleased with the decision. Speaking to the pro-government newspaper Daily Nation, he said that the wall is expected to be finished before the end of the current year. “This is a good idea and we support it because we believe it will go a long way to secure this region, and indeed the country as a whole,” Timamy said. The Kenyan wall is expected to keep Somalis from infiltrating into the areas of Ishakani and Ras Kombani, where “immigrants have been arrested trying to cross into the country,” Timamy added. Many Kenyans welcomed the move, mostly because of concern over the increased persistence of Al-Shabab's bloody campaign against their country. Since 2011, the insurgent Somali group has killed 400 people in Kenya and injured 1,000 others. One of the most spectacular operations by Al-Shabab was in September 2013, when they seized the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi, leading to a confrontation in which 67 people died. In November 2014, Al-Shabab attacked a bus near Nairobi, killing 28 civilians. A month later, the group brutally killed 36 Kenyans near the border. Kenyan journalist Mohamed Qassem attributes the successes of Al-Shabab to the indignation felt by the Muslim community after years of government neglect. Muslim Kenyans who fought within the ranks of jihadists abroad are coming home to set up their own militant outfits, according to Qassem. They often depict their conflict with the government as one between Islam and Christianity. According to US sources, Al-Shabab has recruited 60 Somali Americans to its ranks. The group may use these individuals to carry out attacks on the US, which has spent over $40 million to train Somali security services. A New York Times report notes that Al-Shabab managed to recruit Somali Americans through its social media activities, especially on Facebook. Not all Kenyans are thrilled about plans to wall off their northeast neighbour. Human rights groups voiced concern over the plan's adverse implications for the inhabitants of border areas. The Kenyan authorities have denied licences to hundreds of NGOs and passed laws restricting the media. Two laws requiring journalists to obtain government permission before reporting on terror or anti-terror operations are currently being challenged on grounds of unconstitutionality. Former prime minister Raila Odinga accused the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta of exaggerating the risk of terror in order to expand its powers. Several international groups in Kenya also accused the Kenya authorities of violating human rights in the course of their anti-terror operations. Meanwhile, Kenyan experts close to the government admit that the wall may not end Al-Shabab's war of terror. The best the wall can do is slow down attacks, they said. Other countries have tried similar measures, with little more than partial success. The US fenced off its southern border to stop illegal Mexican immigration and Malaysia walled off its border with Thailand for similar reasons. The Saudis, meanwhile, are building a wall with Yemen to stop infiltration by jihadists from the south. Simon Allison, writing for The Guardian, says that such walls can at best offer a partial solution, and are costly to build, maintain and police. Israeli constructed a 700-kilometre-long wall in the West Bank at a cost of nearly $2 million per kilometre, with an additional $260 million per year for policing. The Israelis reported a significant drop in suicide attacks after the wall was built, reducing the number of bombing victims from 293 in the three years before the wall was built to 64 in the three years that followed. But Palestinian officials denounce the wall as racist and say that the drop in attacks is due to a different political outlook on the part of the Palestinians. Palestinian Ambassador Said Kamal said that what reduced the toll on Israel was the realisation among Palestinians that violence was counterproductive. “It is not hard to infiltrate the wall,” Kamal said. Kenya, a country of 43 million people whose per capita income is just under $1,000, may not be able to afford the building and running costs of an extensive, Israeli-style wall. Its government is yet to offer details on the shape and length of the planned wall.
