By DPA
Kampala : Some 2,000 Kenyans have crossed into Uganda fleeing post-election violence in their country in another round of mass exodus, a senior cabinet minister said here Thursday.
The new arrivals will add to some 6,000 Kenyans who have already come to Uganda following the violence after last month’s disputed elections that returned Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki to power.
Violence resumed this week when opposition leader and runner up in the controversial general elections Raila Odinga called for further demonstrations soon after parliament was convened.
Over 600 people have been killed during the post-election clashes that also left tens of thousands displaced in the East African state.
“I have reports that about 2,000 Kenyans have crossed into Uganda out of the tension there. We are yet to get the exact figures of the new arrivals,” Deputy Disaster and Refugees Minister Musa Ecweru said.
The Ugandan government was planning to relocate the Kenyan refugees into an area about 40 km from the border as required by UN regulations, Ecweru said.
The refugees were being moved from areas close to their country of origin as required by the UN conventions. But if the situation in Kenya remains protracted for years, the displaced would be moved to the existing gazetted refugee camps further inside Uganda, the minister said.