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Migration Jurisprudence from the South › Kenya

KNCHR v. Attorney General (closure of Dadaab)

High Court of Kenya · Kenya · 2017-02-09 · National court

Citation: Petition 227 of 2016
Type of case: Constitutional and human rights
Outcome: Decided for the migrant side

Question

Can the government close the Dadaab camp and send Somali refugees home as a group?

What the court decided

No. The directive was unconstitutional and amounted to group persecution and refoulement.

In plain language

Kenya announced it would close Dadaab, one of the world’s largest refugee camps, and return Somali refugees. The High Court said this was unconstitutional.

Dalam bahasa sederhana

Kenya mengumumkan akan menutup Dadaab, salah satu kamp pengungsi terbesar di dunia, dan memulangkan pengungsi Somalia. Pengadilan Tinggi menyatakan ini inkonstitusional.

Pertanyaan: Bisakah pemerintah menutup kamp Dadaab dan memulangkan pengungsi Somalia secara berkelompok?

What happened afterwards

  • 2016-05: Closure announced.
  • 2017-02-09: Directive quashed.
  • 2021: New closure plans announced. [Check.]

Sources

Open this decision in the interactive collection (compare, filter, Indonesian view, downloads).

Cite as: Institute for Migrant Rights (2026), Migration Jurisprudence from the South, version 0.1, https://theimr.org/court-decisions/d/ke-dadaab-2017/. This page summarizes a court decision for research and advocacy; it is not legal advice.

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Keywords: case law; jurisprudence; judicial decisions; comparative constitutional law; courts and migration; judicial behavior; litigation outcomes; refugee law; non-refoulement; citizenship and nationality; empirical legal studies; empirical legal scholarship; quantitative legal research; statistical analysis in law; law and economics; law and economics of migration; comparative law; socio-legal studies; legal pluralism; migration law; labor migration; migrant workers’ rights; human rights law; access to justice; Global South; Asia; Africa; Middle East; Latin America; Indonesia; open data; replication data.