Most of these children and young adults
don’t know life outside
this arid refugee camp in eastern Kenya.
Dadaab was built in the early ‘90s
after 130,000 Somalis
arrived here fleeing civil war.
Thousands of children have been born
in the camp since then.
But despite all the challenges,
Dadaab is a place where hope and culture survive.
Jamale Mohammed’s parents
came to Dadaab with the original wave of refugees in 1991.
When they escaped violence
in neighboring Somalia,
the camp was only meant to be a temporary home.
For refugees like Jamale
who want to leave Dadaab,
there are few options.
They can obtain refugee status
in a different country.
They can go back to their own country,
which could put their lives at risk.
Or they can join an insurgent group,
a violent path which may also lead to human trafficking.
The camp is only fifty miles away from the Somali border,
a stronghold of al-Shabab.
The Al Qaeda affiliate
has carried out numerous attacks in Kenya,
including the one at Garissa University
that killed 147 students in 2015.
A lack of opportunities and education
make Jamale and his peers easy prey for that group.
Kenya’s government claims
that the camp is a breeding ground
for al-Shabab
and says this is one reason the camp should close.
Refugees like Jamale are considered a threat.
They don’t have Kenyan IDs
and aren’t allowed to leave the camp
to look for jobs or further their education.
Jamale is a host at Radio Gargaar,
the only radio station in Dadaab.
He can become a target for radical groups
just by working at the radio station,
but this is how he supports his mother and siblings.
Today he’s following the IFO theatre troupe
for an upcoming radio show.
They do community theater
to raise awareness
about the challenges of living in a refugee camp.
King B. leads the group.
His family came to Dadaab
when he was 9 years old
to escape ethnic cleansing in Ethiopia.
Theater and poetry help King B.
deal with the trauma he experienced.
IFO’s latest play is about human trafficking.
That is why the promise of money
and a life outside the camp
can be dangerously appealing.
Becky Bella came to Dadaab
as an infant from South Sudan.
The 21-year-old is a first-time mom
trying to raise her son in the camp.
Becky lives with her mother
and grandmother
and they hardly make ends meet.
Less than half of 4 to 18-year-olds
are enrolled in school
and most of them are boys, according to the UN.
The schools are overcrowded.
There is only one teacher
for every 75 students in primary school.
Children are not likely to succeed.
But Becky has managed to graduate from high school.
Becky’s dream is to go to college,
but here in Dadaab
there are only a few places
that offer some vocational training
for recent graduates.
But with the birth of her son,
Becky has renewed hope.
She is willing to fight
to get Marcus out of the camps.
Since 2017, President Trump’s travel ban
to several Muslim-majority countries
has shut down the resettlement dreams
for hundreds of Somali refugees in Dadaab.
Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar,
who was once a refugee in a nearby camp,
has become a local hero
for fiercely opposing Trump’s anti-immigrant policies.
She is a constant reminder
for these refugees
to never give up on their dreams.
For the third part of our series,
we traveled to Shatila,
one of the oldest and most densely populated
refugee camps in the world.
Generations of refugees were born here,
have lived, grown old and died.
But after 70 years,
not much has changed.