NAIROBI (AFP) — The UN refugees agency and a rights group said Sunday they had lost track of two dozen Somali refugees that Kenya planned to deport back to lawless Mogadishu despite fierce opposition.
The UNHCR and Muslim Human Rights Forum (MHRF) last knew the whereabouts of the 25 refugees on Friday when they were moved from the airport to the immigration offices in central Nairobi.
"So far, we don't have access to these people. We are still discussing with the government to find out where they are and how we can get in touch with them," UNHCR spokesman Emmanuel Nyabera told AFP.
MHRF, which has been lobbying to block their deportation to restive Mogadishu, also said it could also not trace them.
"We are not able to trace them and this is very strange," said MHRF chairman Ali-Amin Kimathi.
The missing refugees remained behind after the Kenyan police last week deported 17 refugees to Mogadishu after they were denied asylum in Uganda and returned to Nairobi.
The rights groups said Kenya had violated international law by forcing refugees back into a war zone.
But Kenya has denied accusations of deporting the first 17, saying they did not seek asylum in the country and that the airlines that brought them from Mogadishu should return them since Uganda had rejected them.
The UNHCR last week urged Nairobi to allow its workers to meet the refugees.
"We are urging the government of Kenya to grant UNHCR teams access to the Somalis at the airport in order to determine their international protection needs and to halt their possible forced return to Mogadishu," the UNHCR said in a statement.
Mogadishu has seen an exodus of refugees since January when Ethiopian-backed forces swept aside Islamist militants who had ruled for six months, but touched off an insurgency that has sent the country farther adrift.
The security situation has been perilous since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre paved the way for deadly power games that have defied numerous peacemaking bids.
SOURCE: AFP, November 25, 2007