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Africa Horn
Somali refugees harassed after al Shabaab bombs: UN
2010-07-24
Somali refugees are being harassed and rounded up in Kenya and the semi-autonomous enclave of Puntland in the wake of deadly bombings by al Shabab militants in Uganda, the United Nations said on Friday.

Authorities in Puntland sent back more than 900 displaced Somalis to the conflict zone in central Somalia this week, but so far Kenya has not deported Somalis who can prove they have refugee status, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said.

'Against the backdrop of recent terrorist attacks, we have noted growing numbers of incidents of xenophobia, round ups and deportations of displaced Somalis', Melissa Fleming, UNHCR spokeswoman, told a news briefing in Geneva.
Xenophobia: the justified fear that people who are different than you and have been harming your people plan to harm you again.
'We are calling on the Puntland authorities to halt these push-backs', she added. People fleeing fighting in southern and central Somalia need international protection and forced returns to that part of the country place their lives at 'grave risk', according to UNHCR. 'We fear those who have fled for very good reason, young men in the age group between 18 and 25, are very often targeted for recruitment by al Shabaab', Fleming said. Somali insurgents have killed two African Union peacekeepers in fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, a spokesman for the AU peacekeeping force said on Friday.

Coordinated bomb attacks on the Ugandan capital Kampala this month were the first claimed by Somali rebels outside Somalia, although there have been fears for some time in Kenya that the violence could spill over their long and porous border. 'We are receiving frequent reports of verbal and physical harassment in (Somali) communities as well as arrests, arbitrary detention, extortion and even push-backs of Somali refugees'.
Posted by:Fred

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