Kenya and Somalia agree to reopen border, end 12-year hostilities to foster trade

Kenya and Somalia have agreed to reopen their common border crossings after more than a decade, amid warming ties between the two neighbors following years of tensions.
Kenya has decided to reopen its border crossings with Somalia at Mandera, Lamu, and Garissa, effectively ending a 12-year barricade that began in 2011, Kenya’s interior minister said on Monday (15 May). The announcement came after a high-level joint ministerial meeting in Nairobi on cooperation including on security, as well as trade and the movement of people. The border crossings had been officially closed in October 2011 because of attacks on Kenyan soil by the radical Islamist Somali group Al-Shabaab, which has been waging an insurgency against the central government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years.
“We have resolved that the border between Kenya and Somalia will be reopened in a phased manner within the next 90 days, effective today,” Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said, adding that a first crossing should be opened in 30 days. The two governments said in a joint statement that their conversations focused on their shared interests, the need to maintain stability, as well as the necessity of sharing cross-border intelligence and improving law enforcement’s ability to man the borders. They also talked about strategies for building modern, safe border infrastructure that would ease trade, mobility, and human movement.