Members of Banyamulenge tribe being held in refugee camps in Kenya; Pingree calls on UN to protect the group

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree wrote to the Obama Administration last week to express concern for the safety of Banyamulenge refugees at a refugee camp in Kenya. Members of the tribe, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, are worried that they will be the targets of extremist terrorist organizations operating in and around the camp. In 2004, over 150 Banyamulenge refugees were massacred at a refugee camp in Burundi.

The Banyamulenge are Christian members of the Tutsi tribe. A significant community of Banyamulenge refugees is located in the Portland area and members recently asked Pingree's office asking for help in bringing international attention to the situation in the refugee camp.

"Because of their religion and ethnicity, the Banyamulenge have been targeted in the past," Pingree wrote. "Members of this group are concerned that they could once again be the subject of violent attacks, and are particularly vulnerable in the Dadaab camp."

Earlier this month Kenyan police rounded up over 150 men, women and children who are members of the Banyamulenge tribe and relocated them to the camp in Nairobi, Kenya. At Pingree's office, refugees told stories of narrowly escaping death during the 2004 massacre and of family members who were taken to the Kenyan refugee camp earlier this month.

In her letter to the State Department, Pingree said the best course of action would be for the Kenyan government to remove the Banyamulenge from the refugee camp and reunite them with their families. In some cases, Pingree said, young children were left alone after the refugees were rounded up and relocated to the Dadaab camp.