No repatriation for Somali refugees, says UNHCR

Somali refugees fleeing into Kenya following fierce fighting in their country will not be repatriated back to their country, an official from United Nations High Commission for Refugees has said.

The UNHCR spokesman, Mr Emmanuel Nyabera, said over 400 Somali citizens who were entering in the country daily will only return to Somali voluntarily when peace is restored there.

Speaking to journalists at Malaba border on Tuesday, Mr Nyabera said that at the moment, Daadab refugee camp in Garissa district was filled to capacity following to the large number of people flocking there.

The spokesman said Daadab camp was currently hosting over 300,000 Somali refugees adding that UNHCR has been forced to move some of them to Kakuma refugee camp, which only had 36,695 refugees.

He revealed that more than 13,000 refugees were moved from Daadab refugee camp last month in order to ease congestion but the situation was still bad due to the influx of Somali citizens who were running away from southern Somali due to fierce fighting between government forces and Al Shabab rebels.

Mr Nyabera said that UNHCR will continue supporting Somali refugees until things normalise in Somali.

He disclosed that another group of Kenyan refugees were expected to return from Uganda today.

He said that two weeks ago, a total of 155 Kenyan refugees returned from Uganda voluntarily after learning that there was total peace in the country.

Mr Nyabera said that the 61 families who came back in a convoy of two buses were received by senior government officials at Malaba border and were later on given Sh35,000 plus another 50 US dollars each including cooking utensils and beddings before they left to various destinations.