The recent kidnapping of two aid workers by Somali militias from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya highlights the dangers associated with refugee camps. Such camps are often infiltrated by militias, according to Rasnah Warah in a recent article in the Daily Nation. In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, refugee camps in neighbouring countries contained plenty of perpetrators, and the camp in Goma was used extensively by the Interahamwe as a base for their further military activities.
Warah quotes a report by the International Peace Institute entitled Termites at Work, which says that the Dadaab refugee camp is a key location in a sophisticated arms smuggling ring operating between Somalia and Nairobi. Arms trafficked from Somalia are often stored in Dadaab en route to other destinations. In a refugee camp designed for 90,000 people but now housing 500,000, there are plenty of places to hide.
In practical terms it is simply impossible to identify potential terrorists amongst genuine refugees. Kenyan police can round up some suspects to make it look as if they are doing something, but there is no effective procedure for sorting out the bad refugees from the good ones. They come from the same country and tribal groupings, they look the same, have the same religious affiliations and speak the same language.