June 14, 2001

STUDENTS WHO FLED TO KENYA FACING HARDSHIPS

As more students flee to Kenya, reports reaching SOCEPP from there indicate that the local UNHCR is not only dragging its feet vis a vis their asylum demands but the Kenyan government is also planning to round them all up and send them to the refugee camp in arid Garissa. Ethiopian refugees at Kakuma have been suffering in the past and there have been credible and consistent reports that the local UNHCR (be it in Kenya or the Sudan) have not protected the rights of Ethiopian refugees at all.

Soldiers and officers who fled to Kenya have already been accorded asylum rights. The executive director of the Refugee Consortium of Kenya.MS Gitai Abi, has complained of the fact that the UNHCR "is dragging its feet" when dealing witrh the case of the university students who have been forced to flee to Kenya.Six more students have in the last few days entered Kenya Moyale.

 SOCEPP once again calls on the UNHCR in Kenya to protect the exiled students, to process their case accordingly and speedily, to stop mistreating them in any way and to respect its own charter. Ethiopians abroad should send messages expressing their concern and indignation to the local UNHCR  (Kenna@Unhcr.ch ).

Please send copy by fax to the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (fax. no 254-2 574997) and to SOCEPP  (socepp@aol.com ).

SOCEPP