Kenya condemned on Somali exiles

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Kenya's deportation of Somali asylum-seekers could break international law, the UN refugee agency says.

It has lodged a formal complaint with Kenya's immigration minister. Human Rights Watch this week accused Kenyan police of extorting money from Somalis.

At least 92 Somalis have been deported in the past week, said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond.

A Kenyan government spokesman denied the accusations, saying that genuine refugees were not being deported.

"Our concern is that despite bringing such cases to the attention of the government, no action has been taken," Mr Redmond said.

US-based Human Rights Watch says that an average of 165 Somalis crossed into Kenya each day last year.

It says there are now 260,000 Somalis in the Dadaab camp on the border.

The group says police routinely demand bribes from those crossing the border and deport those unable to pay.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when the country descended into civil war and anarchy.

Islamist insurgents control much of the south of the country.

Moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was elected Somalia's new president by MPs in January under a UN-brokered peace deal but the violence has continued.

Last month, Kenya agreed to raise tax on behalf of the Somali authorities, to give it some badly needed revenue, by charging tax on good entering Somalia through Kenya.