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City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp (2016)

di Ben Rawlence

UtentiRecensioniPopolaritàMedia votiCitazioni
2871191,215 (3.74)27
A researcher for Human Rights Watch describes the refugee camp in Dadaab, home to those fleeing civil war in Somalia, and highlights the life of various residents, including a former child soldier, a schoolgirl and a youth leader. --Publisher.
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THE FORGOTTEN REFUGEE CAMP WHERE LIVES ARE LEFT IN LIMBO

Dadaab is the world’s largest refugee camp, but it lies forgotten in the scrublands of northern Kenya. It has roughly the same population as Leicester, some 500,000 people. Most have fled from neighbouring Somalia. But the Kenyan government has also placed people fleeing Sudan there, out of the way.

Author Ben Rawlence visited Dadaab with the NGO Human Rights Watch. He has built a powerful picture of life in the camp through exhaustive interviews with nine residents about their lives and their hopes. Tawane grew up in Dadaab, but is now a youth leader, taking risks for Western aid workers too scared to leave their compounds. Muna is a Somali woman who arrived at the camp as a baby. She is now under threat from her family for marrying a Sudanese man. Others have fled famine or more recent wars.

Rawlence says Dadaab is “the meeting point between two contradictory arcs of the twenty-first century: the rule of law that had spawned the international humanitarian system and…the chaos unleashed by the end of the colonial project to subjugate and carve up the globe.”

He shows how Kenya’s invasion of Somalia in 2011 was not the simple anti-terrorist manoeuvre it was presented as at the time. And it made the situation much worse for the refugees. The refugees are not allowed to work. But they cannot survive on United Nations rations alone, particularly as they have to constantly pay bribes to police and officials. So a vast and complex black market has grown up.

The refugees dream of being resettled in the West, as a tiny minority of others have been. Rawlence writes, “The young men and women at the youth centre were the ones left behind, who followed the progress of their friends abroad on Facebook.” They set the nightmare of their current lives in limbo against the risk and expense of trying to get to the West.

Ken Olende, Socialist Worker 2490, 9 February 2016
https://socialistworker.co.uk/reviews-and-culture/city-of-thorns-the-forgotten-r...
  KenOlende | Feb 4, 2024 |
I managed to make it through the most painful moments of this, but when I closed the book on the last page, I cried. I can't name what I was feeling except maybe to call it pure distilled empathy. We are all the same, we are all the same; to those who hurt we owe so much, we give so little...

It's going to take some time to collect my thoughts beyond that. ( )
  MCBacon | Aug 2, 2021 |
Ben Rawlence’s scrupulous (and sometimes dangerous) research informs his “City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp.” In 1992, Dadaab camp was built in Kenya at the southern border with Somalia. At its height, it contained over half a million souls.

We experience daily life and travails there with people such as Gelud, forced as a child as a soldier into al-Shabaad, Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked insurgent terrorists. His escape puts him in danger should he ever return. Nisho, a porter with dreams of advancing in his native camp’s underground economy. Professor White Eyes, whose kindly acts are a beacon to his neighbors and the book’s readers. Muna, a Somalian Muslim, and Monday, a Sudanese Christian, whose very relationship puts them in danger of assassination from fundamentalist clans.

These and others bring a humanity to a complex situation involving the UNHCR, other refugee and human rights agencies, multiple governments, and specifically the ever changing political scene in Kenya and Somalia. In the meantime, the resident refugees live lives of dignity, industry and courage filled with "impossible dreams and a nightmarish reality." ( )
  michigantrumpet | Aug 22, 2020 |
Not for the faint of heart. And a worthy subject given a worthy effort.

That said, and with all respect to the author, I found this book difficult to follow, at times needlessly dense with information. I find it curious that so many give this book high marks. Did they really read all of it? Were they simply impressed with the topic and the obvious research? Was there a bias that made them willing to overlook the disjointed narrative? And why aren't reviewers mentioning the characters?

Though the title lists nine main characters, I count at least 11. There are nine people with chapters named for them, this metric slights both Fish and Professor White Eyes - the professor being one of only five characters mentioned in the prologue.

For all its real-life problems "City of Thorns" possesses a self-inflicted problem of its own, a shifting narrative which ultimately diminishes its effect.

In my frustration and to keep myself on track, I did chapter summaries. I hope that it might help others digest this important story.

Beyond this point, my review becomes parts book report, notes, cribbing.

If you get mired in it like I did, look below here for some help.




The book is in three parts: Famine, Rain, and Home.

Prologue: Instability, rebels fighting the government, caused Somalis to flee south to Kenya in the early 1990s, leading Kenya in 1992 to create Dadaab, a refugee camp that by 2016, is a UN/Kenya-funded, "ramshackle metropolis" the size of New Orleans. Seemingly dehumanizing conditions, the author says, do not necessarily dehumanize or radicalize the residents, many of whom demonstrate dignity, courage, independence and who hold "benign illusions" about the more stable countries of the west that serve as their benefactors. Reports about refugees dying at sea are common, but the vast majority of refugees are in camps like Dadaab, living in a "strange limbo" of "impossible dreams and a nightmarish reality."

Horn of Africa: Three seasons exist: windy season from May to September, dry season October to February, and the blessed rainy season from March to May. Sometimes the rain does not come, and that leads to famine. Lack of rains in 2010, had Somalia on the brink of a major calamity. Making matters worse, the Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab, reject food with US and WFP stamps, the US put sanctions on vendors who pay bribes to rebels to gain passage, pirates sometimes stop the flow of food, add in the drought conditions, and we have "the perfect storm" a major emergency - no assistance. We are then introduced to Guled, a man "inured to the roulette of war."

Guled: man born in 1993 not far from the site of the Blackhawk down incident, flees the al-Shabaab, who try to induct him in their fight; he arrives in Dadaab in 2010.

Maryam: wife of Guled, who eventually follows him to Dadaab, pregnant.

Ifo: a camp at Dadaab where Guled joins up with a friend, Noor, who helps him plug in, gain rations and find lodging. Guled sends a false, positive impression, that convinces his wife to join him at Ifo.

Nisho: a porter who looks up to Abbas, who started as a porter and became a sugar trader. Nisho is admired by Mahat. Nisho is married to Billai, born in 1991 as her parents fled Somalia.

Isha: wife of Ahmed who took her five children away from Somalia to escape famine. Rich, proud, strong, three things about her that would change soon.

Hawa Jube: the bad neighborhood in Dadaab where Maryam and Guled make a home; people are pouring into Dadaab at a clip of about 9K/month, and not the most desirable folks, including Maryam's mother.

A Friday in Nairobi: workers in the aid agencies roll out to have fun at night, while on the job they do not visit Somalia, their aid numbers are thus suspect, rebels grift aid from workers and they see crisis in Somalia as something routine.

Maiden Voyage: Guled and Maryam have a girl, the porter Mahat worried about competition, Professor White Eyes is introduced as a compassionate man. Nisho travels to Mogadishu seeking better money but earns little traveling by truck, returns to Ifo feeling "at home."

The Silent March: Isha and children leave Somalia, reach exhaustion, about to give up, they are saved by a minor miracle, another group of people appear and offer help.

Muna and Monday: Muna, a Somali Muslim woman, has a baby with Monday, a Sudanese Christian, scandalous in Dadaab.

Live from Dadaab: ABC News profiles Dadaab, and the famine/refugee camp becomes media baby on July 20, 2011, place crawls with journalists. Somali boys threaten to take Muna's oldest child, whom, they claim, Muna is poisoning - by associating with Christians.

Billai: Nisho is able to make extra money, especially because of the influx of support because of the TV attention, and he courts Billai, who hesitates until Nisho is able to include a camel in the dowry.

Kidnap: Rains come and fail to soak in. Two Spanish volunteers, loved for their efforts to feed especially the children, are kidnapped on October 13, 2011. The al-Shabab say they did not do it, but Kenya declares war on Somalia, and the the aid workers leave.

The Jubaland Initiative: al-Shabaab want to carve out their own little country from southern Somalia.

Tawane: Idiris, Tawane's father, was a successful farmer, who fled with family when the rebels attacked and killed two of his older sons in the field. Idiris ended up as a Dadaab neighbor to Rambo, the rebel leader who oversaw the attack. Tawane, though not a confrontational sort, was thrust into block issues when he became a youth leader in the camp.

Heroes Day: Tawane rises in status because of the conflict, as an insider he is able to organize volunteers. His wife endures a difficult pregnancy at the hospital and cholera is confirmed in the are, but Tawane dream of resettlement becomes "a dull ache." His volunteers to assist with camp needs and to maintain camp life, "tranquil domesticity," which, unlike his father before him, Tawane could "take for granted," and calls himself a born leader.

Kheyro: a female born in the camp and dreaming of getting out, dreaming of Canada, and all the while aware of the extraordinary odds of a woman rising, succeeding and leaving. Rebels seems to select educators as targets when possible. They are like their militant brothers in Nigeria named Boko Harem, which means "western education is forbidden." Educators come to the camp despite the conflict, and a land mine, and complete testing, seemingly in the nick of time- the next day the first IED hits the camp.

Police! Police! War comes to Dadaab, land mines go off nearby and for the first time in his life Tawane is afraid. Food scarcer, service skeletal, prices up. Guled, Nisho see bomb effects. Isha sees police turn vengeful. Tawane's prediction that all refugees would become suspect seems to come true. Violence becomes the new normal, as does Tawane's model of using volunteers in place of service workers. All, including Guled's Maryam and Nisho's Billia, struggle to determine what happened, get home, deal with the drama of rapes, beatings, lootings. Tawane's volunteers turn social workers and hear of Fartuun- a teacher - is raped by officers. Professor White Eyes is glad he lives in a more peaceful, Somali-less neighborhood. He married Habibo, who expected him to be a provider. Tawane's volunteers step into the firing line, forming much-needed patrols to guard the camp entrance and protect again IUDs, a gesture the rebels did not like.

Nomads in the City: Life in the camp is very dangerous for those suspected of helping the Kenyan Army, and Tawane learns of two rebel assassinations of supposed snitches. Others in positions like Tawane bug out for Nairobi, including his old friend Fish, who calls on another friend in Colorado for money while volunteering as a waiter. Eventually, the restaurant hires Fish. As other leaders exit, Tawane's status rises, making him a more likely target for rebels. Theme of transience, living in the future persist for Tawane and Fish, who by virtue of his experience becomes more urbane and eventually earns residence in Nairobi and a business administration degree.

We are not here to impose solutions from afar: West favors invaders Ethiopia and Kenya over Somalia, to be divided up, perhaps. In truth, Dadaab is located on what was once a Somali land, thus the refugees, rather than invading, are occupying their historic lands.

Y=al-Shabaab: Kheyro needs a C on her big education test in order to go to Canada, scores a D , under a questionable system of grading where failure, aka "Y", often leaves one option: al-Shabaab. Kheyro gets a job as a case worker for amputees, makes decent money, saves and buys a radio. She makes bigger plans to become a camp teacher and earn a college scholarship.

Buufis: a word meaning longing for resettlement; Tawane longs for change, envies his friends who leave the camp, goes to Nairobi out of fear but then returns to be with his family and of a clean heart.

Grufor: a block near the police station where all the bad girls went - known for prostitution. Sweete is believed to be a prostitute, who took up with Muna, and represents the end of the dream of resettlement. Grufor area is the worst, Ethiopian, also has restaurants, convenience shop, a photo studio, also a refuge for victims, such as victims of rape. Zim zim and Hamdi are also there. Muna and Monday begin to fall apart. Muna put the police on Monday, who suspected she had a relationship with a corrupt one, Felix. Monday longs to go to Australia with Muna and his children. Muna pulls stunts to get her case advanced. Monday kept the faith but Muna, the ultimate child of her generation, a true daughter of Dadaab, relinquished responsibiity for herself, throwing herself to the mercy of fate.

In Bed with the Enemy: The Kenyans, though new to war, learn quickly that the real profits lay not in peace but in disorder, many Kenyan officials are accused of corruption, al-Shabaab traffics in coal, cars, sugar, drugs, humans while fighting for Jubaland and its city Kismayo. Maryam's mother leaves, Billai likewise wants to go back to Somalia.

Crackdown! Fish attempts to become a student in Nairobi, gets shaken down so much, he returns to Dadaab.

The Stain of Sugar: Rape epidemic, Billai's family leaves, politics of sugar: Kenya elections seem rigged, paid for by sugar, the price of which rose as Kenya took more control. Billai, Maryam and White Eyes's wife complain of low standard of living. White Eyes loses his wife.

Becoming a Leader: Kenyans and Somalis leaders talk of returning refugees to Somalia, something Tawane anticipated, he steps down as a youth leader, and prepares to move back.

Too Much Football: Guled's wife Maryam sees a shooting in the street, complains about Guled's soccer, packs up the children and leaves him for Somalia.

The Night Watchman: May 23 climax of attacks on camp, Ero and his son are shot, the son and others die after an attack apparently by Ethiopian military, but others blame the sugar gangs or al-Shabaab. The author suspects the Ethiopians, who apparently are hunting Ero.

Sugar Daddy: The chief of police in Dadaab, called Sharif, made about $1400 per truck of UN-purchased sugar re-routed from Somalia to Kenya. After Sharif fails to heed warning of a border attack in Damajale, he is replaced by an efficient man, who is soon replaced by one who forces prices down, but still plays ball with smugglers.

Italy, or Die Trying: Guled makes extra money selling khat. His group hears from a Somali boy on the Italian island of Lampedusa, the southern-most portion of Italy. He went from Kenya to Sudan, across the desert, up to Libya and over the Mediterranean sea. Routes through Yemen to Saudi Arabia, and Egypt to Israel, were once favorites but both now have fences. Boats, one man says, are death boats. Guled fasts and takes comfort in the money saved not eating, funds that he can send to his wife and children.

Waiting for the Moon: UN food cards required verification, so during times of verification, Dadaab filled with people, including those living illegally in Nairobi. Nisho's wife Billai got pregnant and made him build a house to replace their tent. His buddy Mahat followed suit, adding on to Nisho's effort, and otherwise continuing to court a girl at Dadaab. Fasting for Ramadan, provided a relief of sorts, when it ended, neither man has the means, already spent on building, to feast.

Eid el-Fitr: Feast days, all pray together; wedding parable -social mobility is possible even at Dadaab, White Eyes marries Fatuma. Guled goes out seeking some side action. Muna, doing a lot of khat, has new Ethiopian BF Gemekis, but despite her apparent sexual activity, no AIDS. Monday and Muna, ostensibly as husband and wife, might be going to Australia soon, so she is happy.

Solar Mamas: Isha (a neighbor Hawo) head for India to get solar street lights, she receives training as a solar engineer, preferably an illiterate grandmother, who would then have a regular job at the camp. Isha was not a grandmother or illiterate, but she was chosen because of her hardships and her interest in the effort - six month's training. She is told to be nice to the cows in India. People in Isha's camp are very suspicious of the whole deal. Isha sees it as her ticket out of Dadaab.

Knowledge never expires: Kheyro makes plans to get out of the camp by traveling further into Kenya to be a teacher. With less dust in her school, she needs to bath only once a day. She now dreams of further education, new possibilities in Nairobi, London, Canada.

Welcome to Westgate: a shopping mall in Nairobi, Israeli owned, in an affluent neighborhood, eventually attacked by terrorists in September 2013. Cycle of violence and retribution reinforced. Unlike a strike in the dusty southern Somalia, this vision took hold of the international audience. One strike could be explained, the other demanded brutal justice. Police and army shoot at each other, response looks incompetent. The four gunmen, apparently al-Shabaab, snuck away, The police leaned heavily on all available Somalis. Assassinations, a Seal-team Six attack on the al-Shabaab leader, and demands for return of refugees to Somalia.

Westgate Two: Maryam comes back to Dadaab for medical; just in time for Kenya's retribution for Westgate. Nisho and Billai miscarry a baby. Billai complains about the unfinished house, inappropriate bed. Kenyan officials say Dadaab is a nursery for terrorists. Crackdown didn't come, but an attack on the movie house beside Guled's house. World Food Program cut food by 20 percent. An eclipse is seen as an unlucky sign. Agreement promulgated to return refugees to Somalia, which Kenyan officials now falsely claim is safe.

A Lap Dance with the UN: Updated census strips about 15 percent of Dadaab's budget, $2.9 million saved, but many people who were not officially tallied, were being wiped. UNHCR history given: built in 1950 at Lake Geneva to help those displaced by WWII and remained as crisis persisted. Not many want to go back, but the talk set the clock ticking, Dadaab a confirmed "temporary" fix. Life gets harder at Dadaab, refugees blamed for violence. Fish goes back to school in Nairobi, after more shake down, he returns to Dadaab. Such issues, and a dry season forced many to seek refuge at Dadaab, which despite the best efforts of Kenyan officials, was growing again.

A Better Place: crime on industrial scale: people confined, not allowed to work, starving in a place they sought out while fleeing famine - workers prepared for the death of the vulnerable. Dadaab had acquired the weight and measure of place - it fit a need. Isha's dreams died a slow death. Nisho and Billai continue to live at near starvation levels. Tawane got a job working with the Kenyan government Unypad, who hired Fish. Kheyro, a teacher and rape counselor, lost the teaching job because only one job allowed. White Eyes dotes on Fatuma and new child, while reporting and doing a talk show for the local radio station. He was excited to learn that resettlement might soon come, as did his daughter and now a new son, Moulid, the prophet's birthday, the one who will save us. Muna and Monday got back together and had another child, but had not moved to Australia, especially because of new, hard line government there. Lost email holds them up. Sweetee, on the other hand, cries before the right government official and is quickly shipped to US. Monday was about crazy to leave, as was Guled, who was now back with Maryam and the children, all hurting because of the food cutbacks. Tahrib: the migration, the long journey and illegal entry to Europe via unsafe, costly passage, keep playing in Guled's head. He cried for the first time since he came to camp. Maryam promised to leave and Guled promised to satisfy that urge: Tahrib - a kamikaze mission, a noble suicide.

Epilogue: Author reviews work with his subjects who are focused on truth - he helps Monday and Muna, who eventually get a ticket to Australia, money to Nisho and Isha and Kheyro. Guled needed bureaucratic help, he had left out his issues with al-Shabaab, he hoped to be resettled, but at book's end had neither been moved out or moved on his own to leave Dadaab. ( )
  gwsiii38 | Sep 8, 2019 |
Not for the faint of heart. And a worthy subject given a worthy effort.

That said, and with all respect to the author, I found this book difficult to follow, at times needlessly dense with information. I find it curious that so many give this book high marks. Did they really read all of it? Were they simply impressed with the topic and the obvious research? Was there a bias that made them willing to overlook the disjointed narrative? And why aren't reviewers mentioning the characters?

Though the title lists nine main characters, I count at least 11. There are nine people with chapters named for them, this metric slights both Fish and Professor White Eyes - the professor being one of only five characters mentioned in the prologue.

For all its real-life problems "City of Thorns" possesses a self-inflicted problem of its own, a shifting narrative which ultimately diminishes its effect.

In my frustration and to keep myself on track, I did chapter summaries. I hope that it might help others digest this important story.

Beyond this point, my review becomes parts book report, notes, cribbing.

If you get mired in it like I did, look below here for some help.




The book is in three parts: Famine, Rain, and Home.

Prologue: Instability, rebels fighting the government, caused Somalis to flee south to Kenya in the early 1990s, leading Kenya in 1992 to create Dadaab, a refugee camp that by 2016, is a UN/Kenya-funded, "ramshackle metropolis" the size of New Orleans. Seemingly dehumanizing conditions, the author says, do not necessarily dehumanize or radicalize the residents, many of whom demonstrate dignity, courage, independence and who hold "benign illusions" about the more stable countries of the west that serve as their benefactors. Reports about refugees dying at sea are common, but the vast majority of refugees are in camps like Dadaab, living in a "strange limbo" of "impossible dreams and a nightmarish reality."

Horn of Africa: Three seasons exist: windy season from May to September, dry season October to February, and the blessed rainy season from March to May. Sometimes the rain does not come, and that leads to famine. Lack of rains in 2010, had Somalia on the brink of a major calamity. Making matters worse, the Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab, reject food with US and WFP stamps, the US put sanctions on vendors who pay bribes to rebels to gain passage, pirates sometimes stop the flow of food, add in the drought conditions, and we have "the perfect storm" a major emergency - no assistance. We are then introduced to Guled, a man "inured to the roulette of war."

Guled: man born in 1993 not far from the site of the Blackhawk down incident, flees the al-Shabaab, who try to induct him in their fight; he arrives in Dadaab in 2010.

Maryam: wife of Guled, who eventually follows him to Dadaab, pregnant.

Ifo: a camp at Dadaab where Guled joins up with a friend, Noor, who helps him plug in, gain rations and find lodging. Guled sends a false, positive impression, that convinces his wife to join him at Ifo.

Nisho: a porter who looks up to Abbas, who started as a porter and became a sugar trader. Nisho is admired by Mahat. Nisho is married to Billai, born in 1991 as her parents fled Somalia.

Isha: wife of Ahmed who took her five children away from Somalia to escape famine. Rich, proud, strong, three things about her that would change soon.

Hawa Jube: the bad neighborhood in Dadaab where Maryam and Guled make a home; people are pouring into Dadaab at a clip of about 9K/month, and not the most desirable folks, including Maryam's mother.

A Friday in Nairobi: workers in the aid agencies roll out to have fun at night, while on the job they do not visit Somalia, their aid numbers are thus suspect, rebels grift aid from workers and they see crisis in Somalia as something routine.

Maiden Voyage: Guled and Maryam have a girl, the porter Mahat worried about competition, Professor White Eyes is introduced as a compassionate man. Nisho travels to Mogadishu seeking better money but earns little traveling by truck, returns to Ifo feeling "at home."

The Silent March: Isha and children leave Somalia, reach exhaustion, about to give up, they are saved by a minor miracle, another group of people appear and offer help.

Muna and Monday: Muna, a Somali Muslim woman, has a baby with Monday, a Sudanese Christian, scandalous in Dadaab.

Live from Dadaab: ABC News profiles Dadaab, and the famine/refugee camp becomes media baby on July 20, 2011, place crawls with journalists. Somali boys threaten to take Muna's oldest child, whom, they claim, Muna is poisoning - by associating with Christians.

Billai: Nisho is able to make extra money, especially because of the influx of support because of the TV attention, and he courts Billai, who hesitates until Nisho is able to include a camel in the dowry.

Kidnap: Rains come and fail to soak in. Two Spanish volunteers, loved for their efforts to feed especially the children, are kidnapped on October 13, 2011. The al-Shabab say they did not do it, but Kenya declares war on Somalia, and the the aid workers leave.

The Jubaland Initiative: al-Shabaab want to carve out their own little country from southern Somalia.

Tawane: Idiris, Tawane's father, was a successful farmer, who fled with family when the rebels attacked and killed two of his older sons in the field. Idiris ended up as a Dadaab neighbor to Rambo, the rebel leader who oversaw the attack. Tawane, though not a confrontational sort, was thrust into block issues when he became a youth leader in the camp.

Heroes Day: Tawane rises in status because of the conflict, as an insider he is able to organize volunteers. His wife endures a difficult pregnancy at the hospital and cholera is confirmed in the are, but Tawane dream of resettlement becomes "a dull ache." His volunteers to assist with camp needs and to maintain camp life, "tranquil domesticity," which, unlike his father before him, Tawane could "take for granted," and calls himself a born leader.

Kheyro: a female born in the camp and dreaming of getting out, dreaming of Canada, and all the while aware of the extraordinary odds of a woman rising, succeeding and leaving. Rebels seems to select educators as targets when possible. They are like their militant brothers in Nigeria named Boko Harem, which means "western education is forbidden." Educators come to the camp despite the conflict, and a land mine, and complete testing, seemingly in the nick of time- the next day the first IED hits the camp.

Police! Police! War comes to Dadaab, land mines go off nearby and for the first time in his life Tawane is afraid. Food scarcer, service skeletal, prices up. Guled, Nisho see bomb effects. Isha sees police turn vengeful. Tawane's prediction that all refugees would become suspect seems to come true. Violence becomes the new normal, as does Tawane's model of using volunteers in place of service workers. All, including Guled's Maryam and Nisho's Billia, struggle to determine what happened, get home, deal with the drama of rapes, beatings, lootings. Tawane's volunteers turn social workers and hear of Fartuun- a teacher - is raped by officers. Professor White Eyes is glad he lives in a more peaceful, Somali-less neighborhood. He married Habibo, who expected him to be a provider. Tawane's volunteers step into the firing line, forming much-needed patrols to guard the camp entrance and protect again IUDs, a gesture the rebels did not like.

Nomads in the City: Life in the camp is very dangerous for those suspected of helping the Kenyan Army, and Tawane learns of two rebel assassinations of supposed snitches. Others in positions like Tawane bug out for Nairobi, including his old friend Fish, who calls on another friend in Colorado for money while volunteering as a waiter. Eventually, the restaurant hires Fish. As other leaders exit, Tawane's status rises, making him a more likely target for rebels. Theme of transience, living in the future persist for Tawane and Fish, who by virtue of his experience becomes more urbane and eventually earns residence in Nairobi and a business administration degree.

We are not here to impose solutions from afar: West favors invaders Ethiopia and Kenya over Somalia, to be divided up, perhaps. In truth, Dadaab is located on what was once a Somali land, thus the refugees, rather than invading, are occupying their historic lands.

Y=al-Shabaab: Kheyro needs a C on her big education test in order to go to Canada, scores a D , under a questionable system of grading where failure, aka "Y", often leaves one option: al-Shabaab. Kheyro gets a job as a case worker for amputees, makes decent money, saves and buys a radio. She makes bigger plans to become a camp teacher and earn a college scholarship.

Buufis: a word meaning longing for resettlement; Tawane longs for change, envies his friends who leave the camp, goes to Nairobi out of fear but then returns to be with his family and of a clean heart.

Grufor: a block near the police station where all the bad girls went - known for prostitution. Sweete is believed to be a prostitute, who took up with Muna, and represents the end of the dream of resettlement. Grufor area is the worst, Ethiopian, also has restaurants, convenience shop, a photo studio, also a refuge for victims, such as victims of rape. Zim zim and Hamdi are also there. Muna and Monday begin to fall apart. Muna put the police on Monday, who suspected she had a relationship with a corrupt one, Felix. Monday longs to go to Australia with Muna and his children. Muna pulls stunts to get her case advanced. Monday kept the faith but Muna, the ultimate child of her generation, a true daughter of Dadaab, relinquished responsibiity for herself, throwing herself to the mercy of fate.

In Bed with the Enemy: The Kenyans, though new to war, learn quickly that the real profits lay not in peace but in disorder, many Kenyan officials are accused of corruption, al-Shabaab traffics in coal, cars, sugar, drugs, humans while fighting for Jubaland and its city Kismayo. Maryam's mother leaves, Billai likewise wants to go back to Somalia.

Crackdown! Fish attempts to become a student in Nairobi, gets shaken down so much, he returns to Dadaab.

The Stain of Sugar: Rape epidemic, Billai's family leaves, politics of sugar: Kenya elections seem rigged, paid for by sugar, the price of which rose as Kenya took more control. Billai, Maryam and White Eyes's wife complain of low standard of living. White Eyes loses his wife.

Becoming a Leader: Kenyans and Somalis leaders talk of returning refugees to Somalia, something Tawane anticipated, he steps down as a youth leader, and prepares to move back.

Too Much Football: Guled's wife Maryam sees a shooting in the street, complains about Guled's soccer, packs up the children and leaves him for Somalia.

The Night Watchman: May 23 climax of attacks on camp, Ero and his son are shot, the son and others die after an attack apparently by Ethiopian military, but others blame the sugar gangs or al-Shabaab. The author suspects the Ethiopians, who apparently are hunting Ero.

Sugar Daddy: The chief of police in Dadaab, called Sharif, made about $1400 per truck of UN-purchased sugar re-routed from Somalia to Kenya. After Sharif fails to heed warning of a border attack in Damajale, he is replaced by an efficient man, who is soon replaced by one who forces prices down, but still plays ball with smugglers.

Italy, or Die Trying: Guled makes extra money selling khat. His group hears from a Somali boy on the Italian island of Lampedusa, the southern-most portion of Italy. He went from Kenya to Sudan, across the desert, up to Libya and over the Mediterranean sea. Routes through Yemen to Saudi Arabia, and Egypt to Israel, were once favorites but both now have fences. Boats, one man says, are death boats. Guled fasts and takes comfort in the money saved not eating, funds that he can send to his wife and children.

Waiting for the Moon: UN food cards required verification, so during times of verification, Dadaab filled with people, including those living illegally in Nairobi. Nisho's wife Billai got pregnant and made him build a house to replace their tent. His buddy Mahat followed suit, adding on to Nisho's effort, and otherwise continuing to court a girl at Dadaab. Fasting for Ramadan, provided a relief of sorts, when it ended, neither man has the means, already spent on building, to feast.

Eid el-Fitr: Feast days, all pray together; wedding parable -social mobility is possible even at Dadaab, White Eyes marries Fatuma. Guled goes out seeking some side action. Muna, doing a lot of khat, has new Ethiopian BF Gemekis, but despite her apparent sexual activity, no AIDS. Monday and Muna, ostensibly as husband and wife, might be going to Australia soon, so she is happy.

Solar Mamas: Isha (a neighbor Hawo) head for India to get solar street lights, she receives training as a solar engineer, preferably an illiterate grandmother, who would then have a regular job at the camp. Isha was not a grandmother or illiterate, but she was chosen because of her hardships and her interest in the effort - six month's training. She is told to be nice to the cows in India. People in Isha's camp are very suspicious of the whole deal. Isha sees it as her ticket out of Dadaab.

Knowledge never expires: Kheyro makes plans to get out of the camp by traveling further into Kenya to be a teacher. With less dust in her school, she needs to bath only once a day. She now dreams of further education, new possibilities in Nairobi, London, Canada.

Welcome to Westgate: a shopping mall in Nairobi, Israeli owned, in an affluent neighborhood, eventually attacked by terrorists in September 2013. Cycle of violence and retribution reinforced. Unlike a strike in the dusty southern Somalia, this vision took hold of the international audience. One strike could be explained, the other demanded brutal justice. Police and army shoot at each other, response looks incompetent. The four gunmen, apparently al-Shabaab, snuck away, The police leaned heavily on all available Somalis. Assassinations, a Seal-team Six attack on the al-Shabaab leader, and demands for return of refugees to Somalia.

Westgate Two: Maryam comes back to Dadaab for medical; just in time for Kenya's retribution for Westgate. Nisho and Billai miscarry a baby. Billai complains about the unfinished house, inappropriate bed. Kenyan officials say Dadaab is a nursery for terrorists. Crackdown didn't come, but an attack on the movie house beside Guled's house. World Food Program cut food by 20 percent. An eclipse is seen as an unlucky sign. Agreement promulgated to return refugees to Somalia, which Kenyan officials now falsely claim is safe.

A Lap Dance with the UN: Updated census strips about 15 percent of Dadaab's budget, $2.9 million saved, but many people who were not officially tallied, were being wiped. UNHCR history given: built in 1950 at Lake Geneva to help those displaced by WWII and remained as crisis persisted. Not many want to go back, but the talk set the clock ticking, Dadaab a confirmed "temporary" fix. Life gets harder at Dadaab, refugees blamed for violence. Fish goes back to school in Nairobi, after more shake down, he returns to Dadaab. Such issues, and a dry season forced many to seek refuge at Dadaab, which despite the best efforts of Kenyan officials, was growing again.

A Better Place: crime on industrial scale: people confined, not allowed to work, starving in a place they sought out while fleeing famine - workers prepared for the death of the vulnerable. Dadaab had acquired the weight and measure of place - it fit a need. Isha's dreams died a slow death. Nisho and Billai continue to live at near starvation levels. Tawane got a job working with the Kenyan government Unypad, who hired Fish. Kheyro, a teacher and rape counselor, lost the teaching job because only one job allowed. White Eyes dotes on Fatuma and new child, while reporting and doing a talk show for the local radio station. He was excited to learn that resettlement might soon come, as did his daughter and now a new son, Moulid, the prophet's birthday, the one who will save us. Muna and Monday got back together and had another child, but had not moved to Australia, especially because of new, hard line government there. Lost email holds them up. Sweetee, on the other hand, cries before the right government official and is quickly shipped to US. Monday was about crazy to leave, as was Guled, who was now back with Maryam and the children, all hurting because of the food cutbacks. Tahrib: the migration, the long journey and illegal entry to Europe via unsafe, costly passage, keep playing in Guled's head. He cried for the first time since he came to camp. Maryam promised to leave and Guled promised to satisfy that urge: Tahrib - a kamikaze mission, a noble suicide.

Epilogue: Author reviews work with his subjects who are focused on truth - he helps Monday and Muna, who eventually get a ticket to Australia, money to Nisho and Isha and Kheyro. Guled needed bureaucratic help, he had left out his issues with al-Shabaab, he hoped to be resettled, but at book's end had neither been moved out or moved on his own to leave Dadaab. ( )
  gwsiii38 | Sep 8, 2019 |
It is a portrait, beautifully and movingly painted. And it is more than that. At a time when newspapers are filled with daily images of refugees arriving in boats on Europe’s shores, when politicians and governments grapple with solutions to migration and erect ever larger walls and fences, it is an important reminder that a vast majority of the world’s refugees never get as far as a boat or a border of the developed world. They remain, like the inhabitants of ­Dadaab, in an indefinite limbo of penury and fear, unwanted and largely forgotten.
 
Rawlence’s account of this febrile life is nothing short of superb. His City of Thorns seems to be modelled on Katherine Boo’s insta-classic Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, and although Rawlence doesn’t quite possess Boo’s prose chops or mordant wit, he does compete round for round on embed and empathy. The detail he weaves into his nine intersecting narratives is so meticulously observed that his notebook stack must have resembled Tanzania’s not-so-proximate Mount Kilimanjaro. This is Refugees for Grown-ups – there are no pat bumper-sticker lines or cutesy take-aways, but a clear-eyed assessment of the immense, transformative migration that is leaving no corner of the Earth unchanged.
 
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A researcher for Human Rights Watch describes the refugee camp in Dadaab, home to those fleeing civil war in Somalia, and highlights the life of various residents, including a former child soldier, a schoolgirl and a youth leader. --Publisher.

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