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Kenya: 300 Kenyan Youths Opt Out of Al-Shabaab, Surrender to Security Agencies

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4 years ago

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More than 300 Kenyan youths who had sneaked into Somalia to receive military training under al-Shabaab terror group have been rescued and brought back home.

The government, through a multi-agency team working with the civil society, has over the past six months been bringing back the youths, most of whom are aged below 30 years.

The 300 young people from the Coast region had been lured by the Somalia-based militants to undergo training with a view to using them to stage terror attacks in their own country.

Speaking at Frere town in Mombasa, Canon Harun Rashid from the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) said the government had unconditionally accepted back the youths after they opted out of the terror group.

“The government has profiled and is now guiding them so that they don’t to slide back to terror activities. This has been made possible by engaging several civil society organisations (CSOs), which have initiated reform programmes for the benefit of the returnees,” said Canon Rashid.

Return back home

The CSOs involved in the returnees’ reintegration programme include Mombasa Women of Faith Network, Haki Africa and Kecosce. The groups have been working under the Inter Religious Council of Kenya, alongside others.

Mr Rashid said the initiative had reversed a trend where youths would cross over to Somalia almost daily to join al-Shabaab.

“We are doing quite well. We used to see lots of youths being lured to join terror groups in Somalia and many would the cross border almost every day but of late the number has really gone down, courtesy of this initiative,” he said.

Nyali Deputy County Commissioner Harun Kamau said the government would continue persuading young Kenyans who are still being used by terror groups to come back home and surrender.