19 May 2007 04:20 SOMALIA WATCH |
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Africa
Wednesday, 21 February, 2001,
02:53 GMT
Annan warns Kenya 'refugee
abusers' 
Kenya is a temporary home to nearly 200,000 refugees
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says any staff found
guilty of extorting money from African refugees should face harsh
penalties.
The UN is investigating the activities of at least four of its staff based in Kenya, alleged to have demanded bribes from refugees in return for re-settling them in Europe or North America. Mr Annan said he was determined to get to the bottom of the allegations, and deal with those responsible. The investigation has proved so difficult and dangerous that the UN has had to transfer three of its employees out of the country because they had received death threats. It is suspected that organised criminals in Kenya may be involved, and the UN has asked the countries receiving the refugees - Britain, United States, Canada and Australia - to help with the investigation. 'Abominable' A spokesman in Nairobi said the death threats were being taken very seriously, and several members of staff who are not under investigation have taken leave or been redeployed.
Newspaper reports said bribes of up to $5,000 had been demanded from refugees who wished to be sent to favoured destinations. At least four members of staff are under investigation. Three Kenyans have been assigned to new duties, while an Italian has not has his contract renewed. Mr Annan said no leniency would be shown to anyone found guilty. "I think it is abominable that refugees who are already suffering, who are displaced, whose lives have been uprooted, should be exploited in this manner and those responsible should be dealt with harshly." How many? Kenya plays host to nearly 200,000 refugees - the majority of these come from Somalia. Many also come from Sudan, Ethiopia and the Great Lakes region. Every year the UN resettles between 8,000 and 11,000 of them, once it has become clear that they will not be able to return home at any point in the foreseeable future. The service is free. A UN spokesman said the big question was how many cases since 1999 had been affected by corruption. ____________________________________________________________________________________ U.N. Investigates Cash - For - Asylum Refugee Scam
Filed at 0:07 a.m. ET NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) - The United Nations is investigating allegations that some of its employees were members of an organized crime network in Africa that took bribes to resettle refugees in the West. Paul Stromberg, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), confirmed reports that at least four people from the Nairobi office were being investigated. One of the four is understood to be a European. Stromberg said a number of refugees had come forward alleging that they were asked to pay between $2,000 and $5,000 to be resettled in North America, Europe and Australia. ``It may involve more than four people. How many people will be investigated, how many people may have charges brought against them we will only know when the ... U.N. watchdog agency gives its final report,'' Stromberg told Reuters. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, speaking with reporters in New York on Tuesday, said Kenyan and U.N. authorities had opened a probe immediately after discovering evidence of a scam. ``We are determined to go to the bottom of this and deal with those who are responsible,'' he said. ``Of course we will have to take measures to make sure that this does not reoccur and tighten our controls.'' Annan said it was ``abominable that refugees who are already suffering, who are displaced, whose lives have been uprooted, should be exploited in this manner.'' Stromberg acknowledged that the allegations were deeply embarrassing for UNHCR, which is responsible for screening the suitability of refugees who request asylum in Western countries. ``We take it very seriously,'' he said. ``It's clearly a corruption of the mandate if the allegations are true.'' REFUGEES PAYING FEE FOR ASYLUM Many refugees say they believed paying a fee to UNHCR officials increased their chances of being given asylum. ``The refugees who have money do not have the problems that everyone else has,'' Celestin Kangambo, who fled Congo after his parents were killed by rebels, said outside the UNHCR office in Nairobi. ``As refugees we talk to each other, and there are refugees who have accomplished the process by money,'' said Destaw Berhanu, a refugee from Ethiopia. Three UNHCR staff under investigation have not been suspended but have been moved off tasks related to the movement of refugees. The European suspect has not had his contract renewed. Allegations from refugees appeared to have linked the scam to organized crime groups and four international UNHCR staff have had to be moved from Kenya after receiving death threats because of their knowledge of the situation, Stromberg said. ``Human trafficking is something which involves in many countries very highly organized and very violent criminal groups,'' he said. ``They made very serious threats against our staff.'' Stromberg said investigators could recommend the prosecution of anyone they believed was guilty of involvement in the scam. Investigations, which began in Nairobi in December 1999, are expected to be complete within the next few months. More than 9,000 refugees were granted permission through UNHCR's office in Nairobi to resettle in other countries last year. ____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________ UN
shaken by refugees' extortion allegations The United Nations is investigating allegations that some of its employees were members of an organised crime network in Africa which took bribes to resettle refugees in the west. Paul Stromberg, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), confirmed reports that at least four people who had worked out of the Nairobi office were being investigated. One of the four is understood to be a European. Mr Stromberg said a number of refugees had alleged that they were asked to pay between Dollars 2,000 and Dollars 5,000 ( pounds 1,400- pounds 3,500) to be resettled in north America, Europe and Australia. '[The investigation] may involve more than four people. How many people will be investigated, how many people may have charges brought against them we will only know when the UN watchdog agency gives its final report.' The investigation is understood to be looking beyond resettlement cases to reports that guards charged refugees for entry into UNHCR compounds, and that UN workers demanded payment for appointments and for basic services, he said. UN staff who allegedly extorted money from refugees should be 'harshly' punished if proved guilty, the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, said yesterday. 'I think it is abominable that refugees who are already suffering, who are displaced, whose lives have been uprooted, should be exploited in this manner,' he said. Many refugees say they believed paying a fee to UNHCR officials increased their chances of being given asylum. 'The refugees who have money do not have the problems that everyone else has,' Celestin Kangambo, who fled Congo after his parents were killed by rebels, said outside the UNHCR office in Nairobi. 'As refugees we talk to each other, and there are refugees who have accomplished the process by money,' Destaw Berhanu, a refugee from Ethiopia, said. Mr Annan said: 'It was important that we discovered this quite early and got to work very quickly.' The office in Nairobi had carried out an 'inconclusive' investigation, he said, adding that the UN's Office of Internal Oversight, based in New York, had taken over the inquiry. 'We are determined to go to the bottom of this and deal with those are responsible. Of course we will have to take measures to make sure that it does not reoccur and tighten our controls,' Mr Annan said. More than 9,000 refugees, mostly from Somalia and Sudan, were resettled through Kenya last year, mainly to the US, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia. Three of the UNHCR's staff under investigation have not been suspended but have been moved off tasks related to the movement of refugees. The European has not had his contract renewed. There also appear to be links to organised crime groups, and four international UNHCR staff have had to be moved from Kenya after receiving death threats because of their knowledge of the situation, Mr Stromberg said. 'Human trafficking is something which involves in many countries very highly organised and very violent criminal groups,' he said. 'They made very serious threats against our staff.' Investigations, which began in Nairobi in December 1999, are expected to be complete within the next few months. Mr Stromberg acknowledged that the allegations were deeply embarrassing for the UNHCR, which is responsible for screening the suitability of refugees who request asylum in western countries. 'We take it very seriously,' he said. 'It's clearly a corruption of the [UNHCR] mandate if the allegations are true.' All Material Subject to Copyright _____________________________________________________________________________________ UN staff `forced refugees to pay $2,000 for papers'
THE UNITED Nations has launched a sweeping investigation into allegations that corrupt officials at its Nairobi office may have extorted millions of pounds from desperate African refugees wanting to resettle in the West. Investigators are probing claims that Kenyan and European workers at the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, demanded up to $2,000 per person for processing applications - a service which is supposed to be free. In some cases, applications were allegedly falsified, leaving true refugees stuck in sweltering desert camps while those with money were flown to American and European cities to start a new life. The UN refuses to estimate how much money changed hands in the payments- for- papers scam. But given that over 17,000 refugees were relocated from Kenya in the last two years alone, the sums involved are potentially huge - and even worth killing for. Four UN staff, believed to possess incriminating information about the masterminds behind the scheme, were forced to flee Kenya last autumn after receiving death threats. One was a Briton. They have since been relocated to other UN positions in Europe and Africa. An Ethiopian woman who translates refugee applications in Nairobi, who asked to be named as Afterkebede, explained how the scam worked: "Usually the refugees are approached by an agent after they have been waiting for a long time and are getting desperate. Then they start talking money." The refugees pay $200 for an interview appointment and $1,500-$2,000 per person to have their applications pushed to the top of the pile. Negotiations take place in small Ethiopian restaurants in Eastleigh, a rundown Nairobi neighbourhood teeming with refugees. "Some families paid up to $7,000 to have their case classified as an emergency resettlement. They got the money from relatives already in the West," said Afterkebede. The money was paid to a Kenyan "linked to the UNHCR", although it was understood that the "higher authority is a white man". No UN staff have been suspended since the enquiry started, UNHCR spokesman Paul Stromberg said yesterday, but several employees have been transferred out of the resettlement section. One report stated that three Kenyans and an Italian were the focus of the probe. Kenya is host to 205,000 refugees from nine different African countries, 90 per cent of whom come from Somalia and Sudan. Resettlement is meant to be the last option for those who cannot return home. But the process is widely abused. The UNHCR has been in financial crisis for several years due to the refusal of the United States to pay its UN dues, and has been largely dependent on European countries. The allegations will be a particular embarrassment to Ruud Lubbers, the former Dutch prime minister who was recently appointed High Commissioner for Refugees. Mr Stromberg said the findings of the investigation are not expected for several months, and that no action would be taken until then. [ News] |
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