Refugees forcibly returned

Humanitarian agencies have expressed concern at the plight of Somali refugees camped in the northeastern Kenyan town of Mandera who, they say, were forcibly returned by police to Somalia; and called on the government and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to provide better protection.

The temporary camp, known as Border Point 1, hosted some 3,000 refugees before the police arrived but was now empty, a humanitarian worker told IRIN on Thursday.

"This is forced repatriation, and is a violation of international law," he added.

Humanitarian workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the killing of a man and wounding of another in Mandera on Monday, angered Kenyan authorities. "The Kenyans interpreted this as the Somalis bringing their problems into Kenya," the worker said.

Two truck loads of police arrived at the camp on Tuesday, sealed it off, beat up the refugees then forced them to return to Somalia, just 500 metres away, the workers said. Three refugees were injured in the ensuing melee, two of whom sustained head wounds, a humanitarian worker said.

"We are extremely concerned if the information we are getting is true," Emmanuel Nyabera, the UNHCR spokesman, told IRIN. He added that UNHCR would send a senior protection officer to Mandera on Friday "to verify the facts".

A senior official in Kenya's Ministry of Home Affairs, who asked not to be named, told IRIN he was "not aware" of the problem.

Fighting in Bulo Hawo, in the Gedo Region of southwestern Somalia, has pushed two waves of refugees into Mandera. The first, about 10,000 people, arrived in April; the other group of several thousand arrived in May, aid workers said. Most of them have returned to Bulo Hawo, they added.