UNHCR: Repatriation of Somali refugees must be voluntary

The UN refugee agency said Tuesday the planned repatriation of about 500,000 Somali refugees living in Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya must be voluntary. In a statement issued in Nairobi, UNHCR said the implementation of voluntary repatriation will initially concentrate on supporting a pilot-project basis. "Three areas in Somalia will be targeted for this purpose. So far, Luuq, Baidoa and Kismayo are under discussion with the refugees," the agency said, noting that arrangements are underway in both Kenya and Somalia to implement the pilot project. The statement comes following uncertainty brought by Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku who visited the Dadaab camp last Saturday and ordered the camps to be closed, saying the government will not back down on refugee repatriation. Lenku asked humanitarian organizations operating in the camps to move their services to safer areas in Somalia. Lenku said the repatriation will begin as scheduled in January 2014. "There is no turning back. It is time to say good-bye and wish you the best as you go back home. Go and help your country rebuild," Lenku told the refugees. But UNHCR said following the signing on Nov. 10 of a tripartite agreement between UNHCR, Kenya, and the Somali governments, the refugee agency and Kenya have reiterated that all returns of Somalis refugees should be strictly voluntary. "UNHCR does not support forced returns," the agency stressed, adding that this understanding was reaffirmed last Friday when the Kenyan and Somali refugee commissioners Badu Katelo and Ahmed Nur, visited Dadaab refugee camp-complex to discuss the repatriation process. "UNHCR works and speaks with the refugees daily, but this visit provided the refugees with the opportunity to ask high-level Somali officials about the areas to which they are considering returning – with some lively informal discussions in addition to town-hall meetings," the statement said. The tripartite agreement sets out the legal framework which specifies that all returns should be voluntary and in safety and dignity. There is no deadline in the agreement for the returns. UNHCR said it has established return help-desks in Dadaab refugee camp to provide refugees with information and assistance on repatriation to Somalia. Kenya hosts an estimated 610,000 refugees from the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Somali refugees in Kenya are estimated at 500,000 and the number has increased due to turmoil and recurrent droughts in the horn of Africa state. The Horn of Africa nation has been torn asunder by factional fighting since 1991 but has recently made progress towards stability. The conflict has left some 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and over 1 million living in exile in neighboring countries, mostly in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen. With parts of Somalia showing signs of increasing stability, countries hosting Somali refugees are considering the potential to encourage them to return, while some Somalis have spontaneously decided to move back to areas under government control.