Graft investigators forced out of Kenya

Kenya is a temporary home to nearly 200,000 refugees

By East Africa correspondent Cathy Jenkins

The United Nations in Nairobi says it has withdrawn several members of staff from Kenya for their own safety after they received death threats during an investigation into corruption within the UN refugee resettlement programme.

The UN is looking into allegations that a number of UN personnel have been taking bribes in order to resettle refugees staying in Kenya to rich countries like the United States and Canada.

Since beginning its probe in 1999, the UN says it has had to redeploy several members of staff who are not under investigation because they have received death threats.

A spokesman in Nairobi said that the threats were being taken very seriously.

Two of the staff members have received death threats within the last two months.

The spokesman said the staff had either taken leave or had been temporarily redeployed within the region.

Extortion

The bribery investigation centres around allegations that personnel from the UN's refugee resettlement programme have been extorting bribes in order to resettle refugees being housed in Kenya to favoured destinations such as the United States, Canada and Australia.

Newspaper reports said fees of up to $5,000 had been demanded.

The UN says that more than one person is under investigation but that nobody has been suspended so far.

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.

The UN spokesman said the big question was how many cases since 1999 had been affected by corruption.