US envoy urges reopening of Kenyan-Somali border
20/11/2008 17:42
The United States has called on the Kenyan government to reopen and expand
the Liboi Reception Center near the Kenyan-Somali border to meet the needs of
new asylum seekers from the war-torn nation.
US Ambassador to Kenya Michael
Ranneberger said despite the border closure, more than 55,000 new refugees have
entered Kenya since January.
He said a reception center for orderly
registration and medical and security screenings is urgently needed to provide
protection to the Kenyan host population and for the refugees in the
camp.
"Despite the border closure, over 55,000 new refugees have entered
Kenya since this January. A reception center for orderly registration and
medical and security screenings is urgently needed to provide protection to the
Kenyan host population and for the refugees in the camp," the envoy said in a
statement issued after his visit to the Dadaab camp yesterday.
"Ranneberger
urges the government of Kenya to re-open and authorize expansion of the Liboi
Reception Center near the Somali border to meet the needs of new asylum
seekers," it said.
Ranneberger spoke when he visited Dadaab Refugee Camp to
express appreciation for Kenya's continued role in supporting asylum seekers
from Somalia and to review the conditions in the camp.
He expressed concerns
over the reports that pointed to overcrowded conditions, increasing number of
refugees and inadequate land resources that could lead to a humanitarian crisis
in the camp.
Kenya, Ranneberger said, needs to ensure the security of its
citizens and control its borders. "As a contracting party to the 1969 OAU
Convention on Refugees, however, Kenya is obligated to allow Somalis to cross
the border to seek asylum," he said.
He said Washington this year provided
US$25 million towards refugee assistance programs in Kenya. The US government
was prepared to request emergency funding to assist the preparing Liboi
Reception Center and for the construction of new camps.
The UN refugee agency
UNHCR estimates that should conditions in Somalia deteriorate further, some
60,000 to 100,000 may cross into Kenya next year. Additional human and financial
resources will be needed to provide legal and humanitarian assistance to the
current and future population.
The UN agencies -- the office of UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, the World Food Program and the UN Children's Fund and
all partners announced they will launch an appeal to the donor community to come
to the aid of these refugees.
Xinhua
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