This case highlights the current failure of UNHCR in Nairobi to provide speedy settlement for refugees whose lives are at risk

Rachael Reilly Human Rights Watch

Their mother was also repeatedly stabbed in the attack at the centre run by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) where the family was waiting to be relocated to a third country because of fears for its safety.

A UNHCR spokesman told the BBC that the organisation was committed to improving the refugees' security.

Killed in bed

Human Rights Watch, a United States-based group, says the 43-year-old woman was thought to be in danger because she was a "close relative" of Habyarimana.

The children, aged nine and 10, were reportedly found with their throats slit at the centre, which houses 190 refugees.

The group urged UNHCR to take extra precautions to safeguard the refugees under its care.

"This case highlights the current failure of UNHCR in Nairobi to provide speedy settlement for refugees whose lives are at risk," said Rachael Reilly, refugee policy director at Human Rights Watch.

Corruption scandal

A spokesman for the UNHCR in Nairobi, Emmanual Nyabera, told the BBC's Network Africa programme that the resettlement programme was facing major challenges:

"The first one, which I think is a challenge all over the world, is that the whole idea of resettlement fully depends on host countries," he said.

Receiving countries have tightened their requirements before allowing refugees to resettle there.

The second challenge, Mr Nyabera said, was the disruption caused by a corruption scandal at the UNHCR Nairobi office.

Mr Nyabera said he was "saddened by what happened" and that the UNHCR remained "committed to giving all the support that is possible to the refugees," especially regarding security.

Mr Habyarimana, an ethnic Hutu, was in a plane that was shot down in April 1994, triggering the murder of around 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu hardliners.