Eritreans granted temporary asylum in Kenya

Thirty-three Eritreans were granted temporary asylum by the Kenyan government today after declining to be flown to Asmara. They were part of a group of Eritreans who escaped from Ethiopia to the Kenyan border town of Moyale en route for Asmara, according to a source in the Kenyan immigration department. However, on reaching Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, they said they could not go home because it was not safe, the source told IRIN today. “UNHCR and IOM requested a temporary stay for them in the country and the government consented. Fourteen have accepted to go to Kakuma refugee camp but the rest are still being persuaded to do so,” he added. A UNHCR spokesman in Nairobi told IRIN the refugees were in the process of being transferred to the camps. Meanwhile, Eritrean embassy spokesman Kidane Woldeyesus said the embassy had taken care of their nationals “dumped” by Ethiopian authorities at Moyale. “We chartered three aircraft between Monday and Tuesday to take about 250 Eritreans to Asmara on a voluntary basis,” he told IRIN. “The consul witnessed this. As for the 33, they are not Eritreans and we cannot go after them, it is beyond our jurisdiction.”