Some 116 Somali refugees left the Dadaab camp today as part of the voluntary return process…
Some 116 Somali refugees left the Dadaab camp today as part of the voluntary return process which started end of last year, arriving in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Repatriation of the returnees who included women and small children was facilitated by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
The refugees, from the sprawling Dadaab refugee complex that hosts over 350,000 Somali refugees, were brought to Mogadishu by two planes after taking off from Dadaab earlier this morning.
The repatriation process is the outcome of the tri-partite agreement signed between Kenya, Somalia and UNHCR in November 2013, agreeing a dignified and humane repatriation process for Somali refugees in Kenya on a voluntary basis.
In a Press statement, UNHCR has said that it will support the refugees who are coming back home after decades.
‘’UNHCR support includes standardized financial and in-kind assistance to ensure safe and dignified return, as well as longer-term support to help returnees reintegrate in areas they once fled from.’’
Following the collapse of the Central government of Somalia in 1991, Kenya has seen a huge influx of Somali refugees owing to the political instability experienced in its Horn of Africa neighbour.
Since al-Shabaab started to launch attacks in Kenya, Somali citizens including the refugees have been viewed as security threats and most recently the Kenyan authorities claimed Dadaab refugee camps as training ground for the terrorists.
Horseed Media
