By Ishbel Matheson BBC, Nairobi

An investigation by the New York based Human Rights Watch has found refugees in the capitals of Kenya and Uganda are living in dire and dangerous conditions.

Human Rights Watch says refugees are subjected to beatings and arbitrary arrest.

The Human Rights Watch report is based on 150 interviews with refugees living in Kampala and Nairobi.

It details how refugees experience harassment, extortion, or worse.

Abuse

Many live on the streets or in unsafe accommodation, leaving them vulnerable to violence or illness.

In Nairobi, the police are some of the worst perpetrators of abuse.

They demand bribes under the threat of imprisonment.

In both Uganda and Kenya, Human Rights Watch discovered some asylum seekers were being trailed by security agents from their home countries.

The UNCHR says its funds are running low

The organisation calls on the governments of Uganda and Kenya to live up to their obligations to protect refugees.

But the report's most trenchant criticisms are directed at the United Nations refugee agency.

It says the UNHCR has neither the commitment, nor the cash to defend refugees' rights.

It cites the case of two Rwandan children murdered earlier this year in Nairobi at a supposed safe house run by the United Nations.