Welcoming Kenya’s decision on Dadaab camp, UN urges flexibility on timeframes for Somali refugees
In mid-June, six buses carrying more than 387 people departed Dadaab camp in North-eastern Kenya travelled into Somalia. UNHCR assists returning refugees with cash grants, core relief items, food and other community-based support programs. Photo: UNHCR/Assadullah Nasrullah
– The Office of the United Nations High Commissionson Refugees (UNHCR) welcomed today a statement today from theGovernment of Kenya in which it reiterated its continued search for
solutions for refugees at the Dadaab camp, where it has been hosting
and protecting refugees from Somalia for many years.
In apress release, UNHCR praised Kenya’s commitment to
“voluntary, human, safe and dignified returns in accordance with
international law.”
“The voluntariness of returns is key,” the statement read.
According to press reports, Kenya said it will delay by six months the
closure of the Dadaab refugee camp, the world’s largest.
Earlier this summer, UNHCR saidit expects the majority of the
remaining refugee population to return to Somalia throughout 2017 and possibly into ea
rly 2018.UNHCR has supported people’s returns from Dadaab for years and on 25 June 2016, it w
orked with the Governments ofKenya and Somalia to devise an action plan to that effect.
Since 2014, some 35,000 people have received support in their
voluntary returns to Somalia. A survey this summer found that 283,558 refugees were liv
ing at Dadaab, 58,000 fewer thanin the past.
The agency is calling upon the Government of Kenya to be flexible in terms of a
return timeframe in order to meet thedifferent elements of the plan that was devised earlier this year, citi
ng a concern that rigid timeframes would be difficult to meet.
For solutions to be genuinely voluntary, people must be properly informed and able to make their individual decisions free from pressure and in full awareness of the facts.”
UNHCR is urging all stakeholders to focus their attention on the implementation of the action plan in all dimensions, not only in Kenya, but throughout the region and inside Somalia as well. In order to ensure this occurs, it recently appointed Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Affey as Special Envoy for the Somali refugee situation.
“A crucial element for the success of the action plan is for the international community to make adequate investments in Somalia in support of its progress towards security and stability,” the agency said.
“This must include much stronger assistance for the integration of returnees together with increased efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate internal displacements,” added UNHCR.
Source:UN NEWS
