Kenya steps up crackdown on illegal aliens

Kenyan police said Monday they have stepped up crackdown on illegal immigrants in the capital Nairobi in a bid to enhance security in the city. Nairobi Police Commandant Benson Kibui said more than 100 illegal immigrants are being rounded up daily as part of the efforts to contain terror activities. "Over the weekend, we arrested over 60 illegal immigrants. Most of those arrested are Kenyans of Somali origin without valid documentations," Kibui told Xinhua by telephone. "The operation has been continuing and will continue until we realize peace in Nairobi. Those found without identification documents are being arraigned in court. Today, we took several suspects to court to answer charges of either being in the illegally or being without valid identification documents," he added. Kibui said they have arrested more than 300 suspects since the daily operations began. "We always advise the aliens to register with authorities as per the law. Some of them are illegal immigrants and they will go to court because they pose a danger to us at large," said Kibui. The security operation followed a directive issued by the government to flush out terror gangs who have been causing panic in major cities and across the country. Kibui told Xinhua that the operation would go on until all the "bad elements hiding within Nairobi and its environs are apprehended." Security has been enhanced since the Sept. 21 attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall in which at least 67 people were killed and 175 others wounded. The Al-Qaida allied militant group Al-Shabaab, which is based in southern Somalia, has claimed responsibility for the heinous act, saying it was avenging the cross-border incursion by Kenyan soldiers into the Horn of Africa country two years ago. "Before we took them to court, we interrogate the suspects at various police stations. Those found to be living here illegally are taken to court," he said. The operation has brought roadblocks within the city for random police checks. The recent crackdown on illegal immigrants saw 47 Ethiopian immigrants repatriated back home by the Kenyan government in October. There has been a string of attacks by Al-Shabaab militants and their sympathizers since Kenya sent troops into Somalia on October 2011 to subdue Al-Shabaab militants, who were blamed for murders and kidnappings on the Kenyan soil undermining the East African country's pillar industry of tourism.