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Kenyan, Somali leaders hold talks over closure of Dadaab camp

Xinhua, June 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Somali counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud held talks in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday over Kenya's plan to close the Dadaab refugee camp, which is home to more than 300,000 Somalis.

A statement from Kenyatta's office said the talks focused on issues including the decision to close Dadaab, bilateral trade and security cooperation.

The two leaders will hold a second round of talks on Wednesday, it added.

President Mohamud visited Dadaab on Monday, making him the first sitting Somali president to visit the world's largest refugee camp set up more than two decades ago to house people fleeing conflict in Somalia.

During his visit to the refugee camp, President Mohamud assured the Somali refugees that there will be no forceful repatriation.

"Let me assure you that we (Kenya, Somalia, and the UN refugee agency) have never discussed and agreed on your quick return to an uncertain future," he told the refugees.

"We do not want you to go back forcibly without services such as shelters, education, health services in place. We want you to get at least services similar to what you get here," he added.

The Somali government wants plans in place for accommodation for Somali refugees to be repatriated if Kenya closes Dadaab, President Mohamud said.

Kenya recently announced it would close Dadaab by November and repatriate all Somali refugees living in the camp.

Despite UN calls for it to reconsider the decision, the Kenyan government has remained adamant, citing a "very heavy economic, security and environmental burden".

Kenya claims Somalia-based Islamist group Al-Shabaab, which has staged bloody attacks in Kenya in recent years, has hideouts in Dadaab.

It is not yet clear when the repatriation will begin, but the government has disbanded the Department of Refugee Affairs, which worked with humanitarian organizations for the welfare of refugees in Kenya.

Kenya didn't act on a previous threat to close Daddab made last April following Al-Shabaab gunmen's massacre of 148 people at Kenya's Garissa University. Endit