The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in a bi-monthly report said that it has stepped up its effort to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees from Kenya’s Dadaab Refugee Camp back to Somalia. The report said that in the first two weeks of September, the commission had repatriated 832 refugees with 83 returned to Mogadishu and the rest to Kismayo.
“The cumulative total number of persons repatriated from Kenya to Somalia stands at 73,031,” the UNHCR said of the number of Somalis who have been assisted in the framework of voluntary return to Somalia since the launch of the exercise on December 8, 2014.
The repatriation was started when the Kenyan government sought to have the refugee camp closed as the refugee situation posed a significant security threat from the al Shabaab. The program was received with positive reviews seeing as all those registered to return to Somalia have done so voluntarily.
The return to Somalia is an indicator that country is gradually become stable and her citizens are willing and ready to go back and rebuild a life in a country which is enjoying relative peace across most parts.
