University students flee to Kenya

Thirty-six Ethiopian university students have crossed into Kenya through the border town of Moyale, northern Kenya, seeking asylum, Kenyan radio reported on 9 June. The students, from the universities of Addis Ababa and Jima and from the Nazret Technical College had claimed they were fleeing a government crackdown following the April student unrest in Ethiopia, the radio said. The students’ defection follows hard on the heels of the defection of seven Ethiopian soldiers last week. The Kenya government had announced on 10 June that the soldiers would be treated as refugees, the Kenyan ‘Daily Nation’ reported on Monday. The Moyale deputy police chief, Steve Mutiga, said that the students had trickled in as groups over the past two weeks. They were all being kept at the local police station. Meanwhile, the police had contacted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) about them and were awaiting a response, said the radio.