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UNHCR suspends repatriation of Somali refugees due to bad weather

Xinhua, November 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN refugee agency has temporarily suspended repatriation by road of Somali refugees from the Dadaab settlement in northeast Kenya due to bad weather conditions.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), however, said plans are underway in order to airlift refugees intending to return to Kismayu and Baidoa in southern Somalia during the rainy season when roads are impassable.

"Voluntary repatriation by road remains temporary suspended due to poor road conditions inside Somalia," the UN agency said in its bi-Weekly report released in Nairobi.

The official said the repatriation is being done through a framework agreed upon in a tripartite agreement among Kenya, Somalia and the UNHCR. The estimated number of Somali refugees in the country is over 500,000.

Dadaab refugee camp, currently home to some 350,000 people, is the largest settlement in the world. For more than 20 years, it has been home to generations of Somalis who have fled a country embroiled in conflict.

The UN refugee agency says Kenya remains a very important country for UNHCR as it has been hosting refugees for more than 20 years.

According to UNHCR, during the first half of October, 118 returnees were assisted to return by flight to Mogadishu.

"In total 5,444 Somali refugees returned home since December 8, 2014, when UNHCR started supporting voluntary return of Somali refugees in Kenya. 3,874 retuned by road and 1,411 by flight," UNHCR said.

During the reporting period, 582 individuals have visited the integrated return help desks to register their intention for return or make enquiries about the process, UNHCR said.

The integrated return help desks are managed by UNHCR, Kenya's Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA) and Danish Refugee Council (DRC).

However, the UN refugee agency said plans are underway in order to airlift refugees intending to return to Kismayu and Baidoa during the rainy season when roads are impassable.

"With the support of DRA, UNHCR is reviewing the list of active 4,600 refugees who have previously declared their intention to return to Somalia and are not forthcoming to access or receive the return support package," it said.

Kenya, which hosted protracted negotiations that culminated in the formation of the transitional federal government of Somalia, says the refugee situation continues to pose security threats to Nairobi and the region apart from the humanitarian crisis.

Kenya believes Somali militants, Al-Shabaab, who killed 148 people at Garissa University early in April are behind a spate of insecurity that has hit several parts of northern, Nairobi and coastal regions. Endit