Security has been stepped up at Kakuma refugee camp north-west of Kenya following the death of eight refugees last week, the UN Refugee Agency has said.

Amongst those killed were five South Sudanese and two Burundians.

UNHCR says the disturbances began on Tuesday last week after reports of attempted rape of a refugee girl, which sparked violence amongst groups of South Sudanese youth.

UNHCR’s spokesperson, Adrian Edwards, says most of the violence has taken place at Kakuma Four camp.

He says the agencies involved in the camps are desperately trying to bring the conflict to an end.

“Together with the Kenyan authorities, we are continuing to work with the refugees to restore calm, and appealing for calm and peaceful co-existence among all communities in the camp,” Mr Edwards said.

Kakuma hosts close to 180,000 refugees from more than 20 countries living in four sectors.

“The biggest population is from South Sudan, others, also large, from Somalia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he added.

The UNHCR says there is now a stronger police presence at the camps and several arrests have been made.