What was the motivation behind these shootings? Kenya is a popular tourist destination (safaris, Kilimanjaro, etc.). How does this have broader implications for the economy and society of this nation? What does the government do about such a scenario?
Recently it feels as if our world has been spiraling out of control. Numerous acts of terrorism have been occurring around the world including encounters with ISIS, the killing of Canadian militants and the al-Shabaab bus attack in Kenya. Most of these acts are to do with religious views.
ReplyDeleteSaturday 22 November 2014, a somalian group of gunmen attacked a bus traveling in Kenya, where they killed 28 innocent people. (Source 1) Passengers were forced to recount passaged from the Koran, and if they failed to recount it, then they were shot in the head for not being "practicing muslims". However, the Kenyan government stated that ""Attackers camp has been destroyed by KDF using helicopters and jets, many killed, operations continue."(Source 2) this act of violence towards the terrorist group will only bring on more acts of terrorism. The instability within the region has been on going since Kenya's independence in 1963. Furthermore, the bus started with 60 passengers, where they were split into Somalians and non Somalians, it was the non Somalians that were targeted. This shows the groups loyalty to their nation as well as religion. It can be inferred that the al-Shabaab is not only a religious group, but a group acting upon the behalf of Somalia.
By the Kenyan government attacking the al-Shabaab camp within the borders of Somalia, it will only drastically increase the tension between borders, which will most raise security between the nations, as well as spark larger, more threatening acts of terrorism by the al-Shabaab group.
Source 1:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenya-bus-attack-28-nonmuslims-killed-after-being-unable-to-recite-koran-in-suspected-alshabab-attack-9877181.html
SOurce 2:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenya-bus-attack-28-nonmuslims-killed-after-being-unable-to-recite-koran-in-suspected-alshabab-attack-9877181.html
This is my weekly post.
ReplyDeleteMany nations rely on tourism as one of their major sources of income. Kenya is one of the nations whose economy relies heavily on tourism. The Kenyan government works extremely hard to further promote tourism and attract tourists and travellers from around the world(1). The government in Kenya hopes to double tourism numbers and revenue before 2015(2).
Unfortunately, it seems that not many people are choosing Kenya as their destination for their next family vacation. Many people worry about robbery and hostage situations, which seem to be becoming more common in Kenya(2).
The recent incident involving the Somali gang al-Shabab is not doing anything to enforce the belief that Kenya is a safe vacation destination.
As you can imagine, when a nation is suffering from instability in the form of attacks and other violent acts within their borders, it causes terror and panic within the country. Terror and panic are not exactly characteristics that one looks for when choosing a destination for their next trip.
Because Kenya’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism, and the attacks from the people of Somalia have been increasing since 2011 - which is the year in which Kenya sent troops into Somalia to help battle an Islamist group(3) - it is easy to predict that their economy will suffer greatly as a result of these attacks and potential risk for future attacks.
Source 1: http://kenya.um.dk/en/about-kenya-new/economy-new/
Source 2 : http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2011/09/kenyas-tourism-industry
Source 3 : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30167891
This is my weekly post… Since the events of the Kenya bus attack have already been said, I will be focusing on the effects it had/will have on Kenya regarding the incident this past Saturday.
ReplyDeleteThe motivation behind these shootings is said to be derived from a “retaliation fro a government crackdown on mosques in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa”, (1). These mosques were allegedly used by extremists of Islam (1), which makes sense why the al-Shabab acted this way with the shootings. Who are the al-Shabab? They a militant islamist group claimed to be linked with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Their goal is to create a strict Islamic State in all of Somalia, (2) and they don’t seem to be having many troubles considering their almost total control of the rural areas (3).
The problem I see here is what this event could later ensue. The ministry of defence for Kenya said in a statement that “115 al-Shabab militants had been killed over the weekend regarding the incident on Saturday’s shootings”, (1). Also in a statement, one of the al-Shabab representatives called the government’s words “absurd” and said that its fighters “didn’t face any attack whatsoever” (4). This seems to me like it is a taunt against the government, essentially mocking their military power and asking for trouble.
With an event such as this, it is no doubt the economy of Kenya will suffer drastically. With the war-struck country of Somalia impeding on the freedom of Kenya, the Kenyan government will most likely have to pool most of their money into the military to help fight off the attackers. This proves to be difficult as their HDI is of 0.519, which ranks 145th out of the 186 countries in the world, (5). To make things worse, the Kenyan tourism industry - which contributes to 61 percent of their GDP (5) - will be heavily affected due to this event, as it will spark a doubt in the tourists mind whether or not they want to visit a place which is on the verge of a collapse. Personally, I probably wouldn’t, it’s just not safe.
Sources -
1 -http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30167891
2 - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-15336689
3 http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/57829000/gif/_57829322_som_controlled_areas_464map.gif
4 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/23/uk-kenya-attacks-idUKKCN0J70RD20141123
5-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya#Economy