Embargoed for Release:
Thursday, November 21, 2002
At 10:00 am GMT
(For Friday's Newspapers)

Kenya, Uganda: Urban Refugees Abused

(Nairobi, November 21, 2002) -- Tens of thousands of refugees in the
capitals of Kenya and Uganda are living in dire and dangerous
conditions, and national governments are taking insufficient steps to
address their plight, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released
today.

Human Rights Watch also criticized intergovernmental agencies for
neglecting their responsibilities to protect and assist refugees in
Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda.

The 208-page report, "Hidden in Plain View," is based on 150 in-depth
interviews with refugees from Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and elsewhere. Refugees described being
subjected to beatings, sexual violence, harassment, extortion, arbitrary
arrests and detention. The perpetrators are criminals, persecutors
trailing them from their countries of origin, and even the Kenyan police
and Ugandan military.

The refugees have no option but to sleep on the streets or in unsafe
shelters, leaving them vulnerable to violence and illness, according to
the Human Rights Watch report. Since international relief efforts are
minimal, food is scarce and medical treatment is difficult to obtain.

"Urban refugees may be invisible to most people, but that doesn't mean
they forfeit their rights," said Alison Parker, a refugee expert at
Human Rights Watch and the author of the report. "Kenya and Uganda have
done a terrible job protecting these vulnerable people."

In Nairobi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is
not adequately identifying or protecting women refugees and
unaccompanied children. In addition, security agents from refugees' home
countries (particularly Ethiopia) are following, harassing and beating
refugees. Human Rights Watch also documented how UNHCR's refugee status
determination process is plagued by delay.

But the Kenyan police perpetrate the most pervasive abuse, especially
extortion and violence during arrests. Human Rights Watch urged the new
government to be installed after the upcoming elections in Kenya to
ensure refugees are protected from harm.

"Refugees come to Kenya hoping to find a place of safety," said Parker.
"A new government in Kenya must offer protection, and prevent the police
or others from preying upon refugees."

In Kampala, suspected security services of the rebel group, the
Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), follow and threaten refugees who
are also human rights activists. Ugandan authorities have detained
refugees, and security agents from refugees' countries of origin have
targeted some (especially refugees from Rwanda and the DRC) for ongoing
harassment and physical attacks.

Human Rights Watch urged the government of Uganda to uphold its
obligations to refugees by passing the new refugee bill, slated for
consideration in 2003.

The governments of Kenya and Uganda have policies requiring refugees to
live in camps, which makes it difficult to address the needs of refugees
in the city. Meanwhile, the main agency charged with protecting
refugees, UNHCR, is without the funds or the commitment to defend
refugee rights and work against the camp policy.

"Refugees are being punished for their presence in Nairobi and Kampala,
without regard for their rights to freedom of movement," said Parker.
"They basically have nowhere to turn when they suffer abuse."

The Human Rights Watch report urges donor governments to help refugees
living in the two capitals. A serious lack of funds almost forced UNHCR
to close the only safe housing center for refugees in Nairobi earlier
this month, and the agency has put on hold a proposed program to issue
better identity documents to refugees.

"Donor governments should be ashamed of themselves," said Parker. "If
they don't increase their contributions to refugee agencies working in
Kenya and Uganda, the plight of these refugees is not going to improve."

Since many of the refugees interviewed for the report were unsafe
anywhere in Kenya or Uganda, they were also in dire need of resettlement
to other countries. Governments accepting refugees for resettlement need
to increase their quotas and the speed of processing in order to save
refugees' lives, Human Rights Watch urged.

Until November 21, 2002, the report will be available online at
http://docs.hrw.org/embargo/kenyugan using the username: 'hrwreports'
and the access-code: 'pub2k2' Beginning November 21, 2002, the report
will be online at http://hrw.org/reports/2002/kenyugan/ .

To read testimonies from the report, please see:
http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/11/refugees1121test.htm.

For more information, please contact:
In Nairobi, Alison Parker: +254 733 598 735 or Urmi Shah: +254 722 584
739
In New York, Ophelia Field: +1 917 535 9796
In London, Juliane Kippenberg: +44 20 7713 2784
In Geneva, Loubna Freih: +41 22 320 55 90

--
Jeff Scott
Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
Phone: +1-212-216-1834
Fax: +1-212-736-1300
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php
en français, http://www.hrw.org/french/africa/