by Ben Rawlence
Reports of the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, UN Security Council Committee Pursuant to Resolution 751: http://www.un.org/sc/committees/751/
Alex de Waal, Famine Crimes: Politics and the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa (Woodbridge: James Currey, 1997)
Michela Wrong, Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower (London: Fourth Estate, 2010)
Acknowledgements
The greatest debt is to the individuals who bravely shared their time, their homes and their stories with me in the hope that doing so might help bring a solution to Dadaab’s protracted crisis a small step closer. Secondly, the project would have remained a fantasy without the generous support of a fellowship from the Open Society Foundations and the assistance of the Open Society Initiative for East Africa, in particular Rachel Reid, Bipasha Ray, Christine Seisun, Adam Radwan, Steve Hubbell, Binaifer Nowrojee, Mugambi Kiai and Mary Gathegu. Thirdly, the Dadaab sub-office of the United High Commissioner of Refugees was for a time a home from home; to everyone there: thank you. Ahmed Warsame was an enthusiastic and generous supporter of the project and Osman Tulicha, Leonard Zulu, Mans Nyberg, Silja Osterman, Mackentric Shigali and many others made the work of research much easier (and more fun) than it might have been.
I worked with several translators at different points, all of whom brought a unique contribution to the work: Ahmed Noor, Abdir Izak, Abdi Noor, Mohammed Omar and, above all, the tireless and imaginative Aden Hassan Tarah. Daud Yusuf and Khader Abdi provided much needed context and advice. I have given the Kenya Police a lot of bad press over the years but the officers in Dadaab were welcoming, helpful and lots of fun: thanks for looking after me.
My Human Rights Watch colleagues: especially Leslie Lefkow, Chris Albin-Lackey, Neela Ghoshal, Laetitia Bader, Felix Horne, Otsieno Namwaya, Gerry Simpson, Bill Frelick and Jamie Vernaelde, alongside whom I learned about the region, shaped the understandings that in turn have shaped this book. Emilio Manfredi, Tristan McConnell and Tiggy Ridley gave me food, shelter and conversation in Nairobi. Simon Rawlence was at the end of the phone and Patrick Hogan built the inspirational writing shed.
Credit for the original idea goes to my literary agent extraordinaire, Sophie Lambert at Conville and Walsh: a steadfast guide, reader, editor and friend. The script also benefited from early readings by Zanna Jeffries and Emily Hogan Turner and from the expert advice of Leslie Lefkow and K’naan. I have been blessed by the editorial triumvirate of Amanda Betts, Stephen Morrison and especially Laura Barber, whose sensitive and rigorous engagement shaped the final drafts to a considerable extent.
While I was researching and writing, my wife Louise endured long periods of pregnancy and early motherhood alone. This book is for her and for the residents of Dadaab whose confinement knows no end.
About the Author
Ben Rawlence is a former researcher for Human Rights Watch in the horn of Africa. He is the author of Radio Congo and has written for a wide range of publications, including The Guardian, the London Review of Books, and Prospect. He lives in the Black Mountains in Wales with his wife and daughter. You can sign up for author updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Maps
The Residents of Dadaab Who Appear in the City of Thorns
Prologue
PART ONE: Ma’a Lul – FAMINE
1. The Horn of Africa
2. Guled
3. Maryam
4. Ifo
5. Nisho
6. Isha
7. Hawa Jube
8. A Friday in Nairobi
9. Maiden Voyage
10. The Silent March
11. Muna and Monday
12. Live from Dadaab
13. Billai
PART TWO: Rob – Rain
14. Kidnap
15. The Jubaland Initiative
16. Tawane
17. Heroes Day
18. Kheyro
19. Police! Police!
20. Nomads in the City
21. We Are Not Here to Impose Solutions from Afar
22. Y = al-Shabaab
23. Buufis
24. Grufor
25. In Bed with the Enemy
PART THREE: Guri – HOME
26. Crackdown!
27. The Stain of Sugar
28. Becoming a Leader
29. Too Much Football
30. The Night Watchmen
31. Sugar Daddy
32. Italy, or Die Trying
33. Waiting for the Moon
34. Eid El-Fitr
35. Solar Mamas
36. Knowledge Never Expires
37. Welcome to Westgate
38. Westgate Two
39. A Lap Dance with the UN
40. A Better Place
Epilogue
Notes
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Copyright
CITY OF THORNS. Copyright © 2016 by Ben Rawlence. Maps I and II copyright © Leslie Robinson and Vera Brice. Maps III, IV, V, and VI kindly supplied by UNHCR and adapted by M Rules. All rights reserved. For information, address Picador, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rawlence, Ben, author.
City of thorns : nine lives in the world’s largest refugee camp / Ben Rawlence.—First U.S. edition.
p. cm.
eISBN 978-1-250-06764-7
1. Refugee camps—Kenya. 2. Refugees—Kenya. 3. Refugees—
Somalia. 4. Somali-Ethiopian Conflict, 1979–. I. Title.
HV640.4.K4R39 2016
967.7305’3—dc23
2015029505
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension. 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
Originally published in Great Britain by Portobello Books
First U.S. Edition: January 2016