NAIROBI: REPORT ON RAPE CLAIMS BY REFUGEES

A report released by Kenya Human Rights Watch yesterday says that kenyan police are abusing asylum seekers and refugees fleeing war-torn Somalia. he Human Rights Watch also reports that there is use of Violence, arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention in inhuman and degrading conditions, threats of deportation, and wrongful prosecution for "unlawful presence" to extort money from the new arrivals – men, women, and children alike.
According to the report once in the camps, refugees continue to face police violence, . Police have failed to prevent, investigate, and prosecute sexual violence against refugee women and girls in the camps by other refugees and Kenyans, creating a culture of impunity and increasing the risk of sexual violence.

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With regard to sexual violence, victims told Human Rights Watch that the police either don't give much attention and ignore their complaints, tell them to produce evidence, or abruptly drop the cases without explanation. In the rare event that police arrest alleged attackers, the suspects are usually released within hours or days, with little hope for further questioning or accountability. Many women believe their alleged attackers successfully bribe the police to drop investigations or to let the suspects go.
Mean while news from the Kenyan Police headquarters in based in Nairobi says that the police have called for a thorough investigation on all reported cases of abuse in the refugee camps.
To its credit, Kenya has provided asylum to refugees fleeing war-torn country of somalia for almost two decades. No one doubts the weight of the burden. So far, 320,000 Somalis have registered as refugees in the country and the total is probably well in excess of half a million, as many don’t register.

TheAfricanVoices Team
Nairobi