Kenya Feeling Pinch of Its Somalia Border Closure

This country’s recent decision to close its border with Somalia and ban flights between the two nations is threatening livelihoods--and raising fears among humanitarian groups that aid might not reach Somalis who desperately need it.

Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi, citing the smuggling of illegal firearms from the neighboring nation, insisted that the border will remain closed until Somalia gets a legitimate and functional government.

Cross-border traders say they are losing millions of dollars because of the ban, which prohibits the transport of passengers and commercial goods between Kenya and its war-torn neighbor to the east.

Among the hardest hit have been the dealers of khat, a mild stimulant grown in parts of central Kenya and airlifted to Somalia, where it is a widely consumed.

Most humanitarian agencies have received special permission from the Kenyan government to transact business between the two states. Some aid officials, however, expressed concern about the long-term effects if the flight ban and border closure severely hamper commercial activity in the areas of Somalia where some residents depend on donor assistance.

“If the economy begins to falter because of this flight ban, you could definitely see tensions rising and insecurity increasing, which could infringe on our ability to deliver aid,” said Michelle Quintagle, spokeswoman for the U.N. World Food Program here in the Kenyan capital.

Because of Somalia’s vacuum of authority, many humanitarian operations for the country are run from Nairobi.

“There could be more competition over fewer resources, which could impact us later,” said Jason Smith, the Nairobi-based acting head of operations for the Netherlands branch of Doctors Without Borders. “Aid may become the sole source of resources that the warlords are competing over.”

Somalia dissolved into anarchy in 1991 after clan-based militia groups ousted President Mohamed Siad Barre, only to turn on one another, leaving the country without a central government.

Many Somalis living in Kenya viewed the border closure as discrimination against their community.

The closure was followed by extensive police raids on suburbs in Nairobi with high concentrations of Somali and Ethiopian immigrants. More than 600 suspected illegal immigrants were arrested during the crackdown.

“Right now I am out of business,” said Mohammed Khasim, 50, a father of four who for the past 17 years exported khat--locally known as miraa--to the Somali capital, Mogadishu. “My fear is for my family. I don’t know how I’m going to sustain them, pay school fees and give them food.”

Local businesspeople said the policy is hurting ordinary Kenyans.

Alice Kamau’s tea and snack kiosk--located at Nairobi’s small-plane Wilson Airport, once a bustling transit point for khat traders--has seen a substantial drop in profits because of the ban.

“The decision is unfair . . . because it is affecting our income and we don’t have anything else to sustain us,” said Kamau, 32.

Capt. Hussein Mohammed, a pilot for Blue Bird Aviation in Kenya, said his company used to make three daily khat runs to various parts of Somalia. Now Blue Bird has been forced to transport other goods within Kenya and to neighboring Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

The pilot disagreed that the flights to Somalia were a front for ferrying weapons, because all cargo typically undergoes thorough examination by Kenyan customs agents.

Mohammed and others argued that the government’s policy is counterproductive because trade between the two countries is a source of much-needed revenue to Kenya.

“It’s all fuel, it’s all employment, it’s all airport taxation for Kenya,” said Owen Calvert, an agronomist for the World Food Program.

Calvert noted that commodities such as sugar, oil, cigarettes and petrol cost considerably less when bought from Somalia because of the country’s lack of official taxation.

By closing its border with Somalia, Kenya ends up paying more for these items elsewhere.

“It’s a bit like shooting Kenya in the foot,” Calvert said.