First U.N.-backed Return of Somali Refugees in 23 Years
A group of Somali refugees have become the first to cross back into their country from Kenya with United Nations support in more than two decades, aid workers said Tuesday.
The returns were voluntary, although they come amid tough security crackdowns by Kenyan forces on refugees as well as the halving of vital food rations due to U.N. funding shortfalls.
A total of 94 refugees were taken on Monday in two buses from Kenya's northeastern camp complex of Dadaab -- among the world's largest refugee camps and home to 356,000 people -- across the border into the southern Somali border town of Dhobley.
While tens of thousands have returned to Somalia on their own, this was the first group to do so with international backing. The group were transported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with the support of the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR.
"I am glad to see men, women and children go back voluntarily in a dignified manner to rebuild their country," IOM Somalia chief Ali Abdi said.
IOM said they were the first to be assisted to return in "23 years, after conflict and famine drove them from their homeland."
Some 450,000 Somali refugees live in Kenya, many of them having fled a bloody insurgency led by the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shebab.
However, Somalis in Kenya have faced increasing suspicion and hostility after the Shebab launched attacks inside Kenya in revenge for Nairobi's military role in Somalia.
The attacks include last year's Westgate shopping mall massacre, in which at least 67 people died, and a string of more recent killings in northeastern regions.
After Westgate, refugees in cities were ordered back to remote northern camps, including Dadaab. Police rounded up thousands in actions condemned by rights groups.
Conditions in Somalia remain dire, with aid workers warning that large areas are struggling with extreme hunger, three years after famine killed more than a quarter of a million people.
More than three million people, 20 percent more than last year, need urgent help because of malnutrition, war and other crises, the U.N. said this week.
However, in Kenya, funding shortfalls means the U.N. last month slashed vital food aid rations in half.
Those refugees who do go back to Somalia "receive repatriation packages including food rations for three months, non-food items and a livelihood start-up grant," IOM said.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://mobile.naharnet.com/stories/en/158532 |