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Refugees need not fear says UNHCR

    NAIROBI

    The acting head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kenya, Reinier Thiadens, said that Ethiopians seeking asylum in Kenya should have no fear of harassment in refugee camps. In an interview with 'The EastAfrican' weekly on Monday, Reinier said that the Ethiopian students seeking refuge in Kenya were afraid that other Ethiopian refugees in the camps would harass them.

    The students staged a hunger strike in front of the UNHCR offices last week to protest against relocation to refugee camps in northeastern Kenya. The students were also complaining that 80 percent of their applications for asylum were being rejected. Reinier said only 30 percent of the applications had been rejected, according to 'The EastAfrican'.

    He said the students also wanted to have a third refugee camp set up exclusively for them, but setting up camps was up to the Kenya government not the UNHCR. Once the status of the students had been determined, they would be moved to refugee camps. Eighty-one students had already been moved to Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya, 'The EastAfrican' quoted Reinier as saying.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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