The UNHCR has released the latest statistics of voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees from six countries. The UNHCR has said that it has repatriated 110,913 with the largest number returning from Kenya followed by Yemen. Of the returnees, 75,297 refugees returned to Somalia from Kenya and 34,990 from Yemen, 626 refugees from other countries, including Djibouti, Eritrea, and Tunisia by December 2017.
Experts say the political and security stabilization in Somalia, along with growing pressures in hosting countries, calls for renewed efforts to find durable solutions for Somali refugees. The UN agency said return movement in December was assisted by air from Kenya and sea from Yemen.
More than 2 million Somalis have been displaced in one of the world’s most protracted humanitarian crises that have now entered its third decade. An estimated 1.1 million people are internally displaced (IDPs) within Somalia, and nearly 900,000 became refugees in the region.
