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Somalia: Update to KEN18566.E of 14 October 1994 on reports of Kenyan police particularly in Nairobi, deporting Somali refugees and how Kenyan authorities view such action

The World Refugee Survey 2000 states that Kenya does not have a refugee law and refugees have no legal status in Kenya (2000, 96). According to this source, an official evaluation report commissioned by the UNHCR in October 1999 concluded that Kenyan authorities "tend to have limited interest in the situation of refugees" (ibid.). World Refugee Survey 2000 further states that Somali refugees faced many protection problems and that "Kenyan officials threatened to detain and deport up to 2,000 other Somali refugees who refused to transfer from Mombasa to Kakuma" (ibid., 97).

A study on human rights and refugees in Kenya found that "police harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, the lack of a fair status determination procedure are all the direct consequence of Government actions and policies" (Verdirame 1999, 75).

In August 1999, 97 Somali refugees, who were awaiting consideration for resettlement in the United States, were reportedly rounded up, locked up in police cells for several weeks, and threatened with deportation (The Nation 22 Aug. 1999). The refugees, including women and children had been living at a refugee camp for nine years. The refugees, who belonged to the Barawan community, "the minority ethnic group in Somali [a] currently facing extinction," were left behind when their compatriots were resettled in the United States (ibid.).

No additional and/or corroborating reports could be found among the sources currently consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

The Nation [Nairobi]. 22 August 1999. "Somalia: 97 Somali Refugees in bid to Avert Deportation." (NEXIS)

U.S. Committee for Refugees. World Refugee Survey 2000.

Verdirame, G. 1999. "Human Rights and Refugees: The Case of Kenya." Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 12. No. 1, p. 75.

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Confidential.

Africa Research Bulletin .

Horn of Africa Bulletin.

The Indian Ocean Newsletter.

IRB Databases LEXIS/NEXIS.

Keesing's Record of World Events.

Search engines including,

Google

Mamma

Internet sites including,

All Africa

Relief Web

Somaliland Website