UN asks Kenya not to send back Somalia refugees

GENEVA, Jan 3 (Reuters) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres appealed to Kenya today not to send ''deserving Somali civilians'' fleeing fighting in their country back across the border.

Guterres' agency, the Geneva-based UNHCR, said in a statement it had reports that Kenyan authorities were returning Somali refugees, including women and children, who had arrived over the past week.

''We fully appreciate that the situation in neighbouring Somalia is a serious concern to the Kenyan authorities and that governments have a responsibility to ensure border security in such situations,'' the High Commissioner said.

''But Kenya also has a humanitarian obligation to allow citizens at risk to seek asylum on its territory.'' The agency said it had reports that several trucks carrying Somalis who had sought refuge in a UNHCR-supported reception centre near the border town of Liboi were seen heading back towards Somalia earlier today.

Most of the refugees in Liboi were women and children, the Guterres statement said, ''and they should not be sent back to a very uncertain situation''.

The statement came after Kenya sealed its border with Somalia following an appeal from the Somali government to stop Islamist leaders and their domestic and foreign supporters from escaping over the Kenyan frontier.

The Somalia Islamic Courts Council, which had taken control of large parts of the country including the capital Mogadishu in recent months, has been driven from its strongholds by government troops and Ethiopian forces.

Guterres said his agency had offered to provide immediate expertise and support to Kenya in handling refugees so that it could ''meet its international obligations while also addressing its legitimate security concerns''.

The UNHCR operates three large refugee camps in northern Kenya at Dadaab, some 80 km from Liboi, where about 160,000 Somali refugees are held. It said it could provide more staff to help Kenya with any new influx.

REUTERS PB KN2328