Chaos victims may be moved to US

• US official in Kenya to establish the state of IDPs.
• Witten says US plans to settle the refugees later in the year.
• He has met Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ and the commissioner for refugees over the issue.

Some internal refugees may be relocated to the United States if ongoing efforts to settle them in Kenya fail.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by a visiting top US government official, who is in the country to establish the state of the refugees.

Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration Samuel Witten said his country planned to settle the refugees later in the year.

“We will resettle thousands of African refugees who have no other solution from Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia,” he said at a news conference at the United States embassy.

He disclosed that he had earlier met Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ and the commissioner for refugees Peter Kusimba over the same issue.

The US is also currently helping to pay for the operation and maintenance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ camps at Kakuma and Dadaab.

The population at these camps is about 250,000 and the refugees are mainly from Somalia and Sudan.

The bureau has contributed more than Sh1.2 billion through the UN and other agencies to help in the resettlement of Kenyan refugees.