APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA 263. A good practice that was identified by the UN Special Rapporteur on IDPs was the establishment of a multi stakeholder early warning system to detect triggers for displacement ahead of the 2010 Constitutional referendum. The National Steering Committee on PeaceBuilding and Conflict Management working with a network of District Peace Committees, the UN and various stakeholders have utilized field monitors nationally to detect early warning signs including forced movements, sexual and gender-based violence, and set up centres to address violence. However monitoring capacity at the county level is low and more resources and actors are required to ensure vigilant monitoring. 3.10.2.5 Refugees 264. Kenya has the second highest refugee population in Africa after Ethiopia, with refugees and asylum seekers Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to UNHCR estimates, in 2015 there were approximately 591,570 registered refugees and asylum seekers overall; 346,428 in Dadaab and Alinjugu; 183,023 in Kakuma and 62,119 in Nairobi. The total number of refugee seekers was 551,604 and total asylum seekers were 39,966. 265. Kenya has traditionally been hospitable to refugees, but with the complex challenges posed by terrorism and the perceived links to refugee camps, the checks and security measures have become more stringent. In Constitutional Petition No 628 of 2014 the state testified to the illegal procurement of identity registration documents illegally and fraudulently by non-citizens who move to urban settlements by exploiting corrupt networks in registration systems; the hearing of the KNHRC in 2006 had similarly found prima facie evidence issuance of national identity cards to Somali refugees in Dadaab Refugee Camp. Some of these elements at large are suspected to have been involved in terrorist acts. 266. UNHCR and other human rights observers were concerned about the government decision made on May 6, 2016 to close the Dadaab camp which hosts Somali refugees by November 2016 as this would cast doubt on the voluntary nature of the returns refugees to Somalia. In December 2012, government instructed that all asylum seekers/refugees would be hosted at the refugee camps with immediate effect. This was linked to a chain of grenade attacks that had been staged in urban areas. All asylum seekers and refugees from Somalia were directed to Dadaab refugee camps and those from other countries to Kakuma refugee camp. The government further instructed UNHCR and other partners serving refugees stop providing direct services to asylum seekers and refugees in urban areas and transfer the same services to the refugee camps. A high level inter-ministerial committee was established to oversee the relocation process. 267. Constitutional petition No. 115 of 2013 was lodged contesting this government decisions with the petitioners contending that this would amount to a violation of the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention as domesticated by the Refugees Act, 2006 and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. The government in explaining the basis of its policy decision expounded on challenge posed by unregistered refugees in urban areas, many of whom were in violation of time-restricted movement passes and living outside designated areas without appropriate travel documents and had not returned to camps risking lawful | 128 |