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Somalia/Kenya: Documentation issued to Somali refugees in Kenyan refugee camps; whether records of registered Somali refugees are kept; treatment by Kenyan authorities of refugees recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) compared to non-registered refugees who reside in the camps (1992-2002)

For information on the documentation issued to Somali refugees in United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) operated camps, as well as a list of UNHCR camps and details of their operations since 1992, please consult the attached correspondence from a senior protection officer of the UNHCR branch office for Canada (22 Jan. 2003). Although references to refugees being registered in Kenyan camps were found (UNHCR 22 Jan. 2003; ibid. 18 June 2002), specific information regarding whether records are kept of registered Somali refugees could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Specific references to the treatment by Kenyan authorities of Somali refugees recognized by the UNHCR compared to non-registered refugees who reside in the camps could not be found among the sources consulted. However, an extensive report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) entitled Hidden in Plain View: Refugees Living Without Protection in Nairobi and Kampala details protection problems for the approximately 60,000 refugees living in Nairobi, including the harassment, violence and extortion by Kenyan police as well as refusal by authorities to respect UNHCR documents that refugees living or travelling in urban areas encounter (Nov. 2002, 42-50). The HRW report also details the humanitarian and security conditions in UNHCR operated camps (Nov. 2002, 126-130). A separate article by HRW also reports on a Kenyan police "crackdown" on refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Nairobi neighbourhoods following the 28 November 2002 attacks on Israeli tourists in Mombasa (HRW 6 Dec. 2002). The article claims that police conducted "three large raids and dozens of arbitrary arrests," which included "two Congolese refugee women with UNHCR-issued documents granting them permission to remain in Nairobi for security reasons" while awaiting resettlement to a third country (ibid.). An HRW refugee expert who authored Hidden in Plain View was quoted as saying that "'[r]efugees in Kenya are often at risk because of potential violence from criminal elements. It turns out they are also under threat from the Kenyan police who should be protecting refugees, not abusing them'" (ibid.).

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

Human Rights Watch (HRW). 6 December 2002. "Kenya: Crackdown on Nairobi's Refugees After Mombasa Attacks." <http://wwww.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/d7da7a1f5c113a2c49256c870004c9ca?OpenDocument> [Accessed 7 Mar. 2003]

_____. November 2002. Alison Parker. Hidden in Plain View: Refugees Living Without Protection in Nairobi and Kampala. <http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/kenyugan/kenyugan.pdf> [Accessed 7 Mar. 2003]

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 22 January 2003. Branch Office for Canada Ottawa. Correspondence from senior protection officer.

_____. 18 June 2002. "Kenya: UN Plans to Relocate 2,000 Refugees." <http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/print?tbl=NEWS&id=3d10430flb> [Accessed 17 Dec. 2002]

Attachment

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 22 January 2003. Branch Office for Canada, Ottawa. Correspondence from senior protection officer.

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Research Bulletin

Europa World Year Book

IRB Databases

NEXIS

Internet sites, including:

Africa Confidential

Africa Online

AllAfrica.com

Amnesty International (AI)

BBC News

East African Standard

Global IDP

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Indian Ocean Newsletter

Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)

Relief Web

UN Somalia

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR)

U.S. Department of State

World News Connection (WNC)

Search engine:

Google

Topics: Refugee camps,