By BBC
The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) has said it is “deeply concerned” by news that four refugees were returned to Turkey from Kenya.
The four were repatriated at the request of the Turkish government, Kenya’s foreign ministry said.
The statement comes after reports of several people being abducted in the capital, Nairobi, on Friday.
A British national told the BBC he and several Turkish citizens had been kidnapped by masked men.
He said he had been released after eight hours when he showed his alleged abductors a copy of his British passport.
In a statement the UNHCR said it “urges the Government of Kenya to abide by their international legal obligations, and in particular, to respect the principle of non-refoulment [forced return of refugees], which protects asylum-seekers and refugees from any measure that could lead to their removal to a place where their life or freedom would be threatened”.
Kenya’s foreign ministry said it had agreed to Turkey’s request to repatriate the four men because of the country’s “robust historical and strategic relations” with Turkey, and that it had been assured the refugees would be “treated with dignity”.
The four are believed to be followers of the Gulen movement, a powerful Islamic community with followers in Turkey and worldwide, whose leader has just died.
The Gulen movement runs a network of schools in Kenya and around the world.
Known as Hizmet or “service” in Turkey, it was blamed for a 2016 coup attempt and later declared a terrorist organisation.
Turkish authorities have not yet commented on the repatriation.
Under the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom.
Following the reported abduction, Kenyan law firm Mukele & Kakai said it was acting on behalf of four men who were registered refugees and warned airlines against allowing them to be taken on board.
