Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) (review of 2009 by the US State Department)

In September President Kibaki ordered that approximately 7,000 of the 350,000 persons who fled their homes in Rift Valley Province, Central Province, Nairobi, and other sections of the country as a result of 2008 postelection interethnic violence, still had not been resettled in their home regions. In May 2008 the government announced "Operation Rudi Nyumbani" (Operation Return Home) to return IDPs in camps to their homes; however, the majority of IDPs chose to relocate to transit sites near to their homes. By the end of 2008 the government had closed or ceased providing services to IDP camps; however, the Kenya Red Cross Society reported that 99,198 IDPs resided in transit sites at the beginning of the year. IDP camp residents complained that police used force and did not offer adequate compensation during the resettlement.
Rapes allegedly perpetrated by residents of camps, local residents, and sometimes by police personnel occurred in IDP camps. In May 2008 the representative of the UN secretary-general on the human rights of IDPs visited the country and concluded that the returns of some IDPs were not voluntary and based on informed choices. In an October 2008 report, the KNCHR found that the government had used intimidation and force to remove IDPs from camps and had failed to provide housing, food, and clean water to resettled camp residents. The KNCHR also found that resettled residents were exposed to sexual violence and harassment.
During the year government eviction and destruction of homes in low income areas resulted in IDPs. For instance, in July police bulldozed homes in Githogoro Village, Nairobi, displacing 3,000 residents.
During the year there were many other causes of displacement, including land disputes and flash floods. Throughout the year NGOs reported that hundreds of pastoralists were displaced in conflicts over pasture and watering holes in semiarid regions of North Eastern, Eastern, and Rift Valley provinces. During the year Karamojong from Uganda engaged in cross-border cattle raids in Western Rift Valley Province, resulting in death and displacement among the Pokot and Turkana tribes.
An unknown proportion of the several thousand persons displaced by ethnic clashes from the 1990s had not returned to their homes due to fear of renewed violence.