Somali refugees in Kenyan camps queue up to return home

A UNHCR employee waves to Somali families leaving Ifo refugee camp for Somalia on December 9, 2014. [Bosire Boniface/Sabahi]

By Bosire Boniface
Saturday, January 10, 2015

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Garissa, Kenya — More than 1,000 Somalis residing in Kenya's Dadaab refugee complex have returned home in the past month with assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency's spokesperson for Kenya Emmanuel Nyabera told Sabahi.

The voluntary repatriation, part of a six-month pilot programme launched December 8th, follows a tripartite agreement signed in 2013 between Kenya, Somalia and the UNHCR.

By June, as a result of this agreement, an estimated 10,000 Somalis will receive assistance to return to Luuq, Baidoa and Kismayo, Nyabera said, adding that the agency is currently processing the applications of other refugees seeking to return home.

Somali refugees queue at the Ifo refugee camp UNHCR office to register for repatriation assistance on January 5, 2015. [Bosire Boniface/Sabahi]

The support package provided to returning refugees includes assistance to secure safe transport, a cash grant, travel and hygiene kits for use during the journey home, food, and other basic needs assistance to support the sustainability of return and reintegration in Somalia.

Ibrahim Hussein Abdi, 43, told Sabahi he has submitted his name to the UNHCR offices in Dadaab for voluntary repatriation to Somalia.

Abdi, who arrived at the Dadaab complex with his family in May 2010, said life as a refugee has been challenging and he has found it difficult to adapt to its sedentary nature.

"The freedom of movement is restricted for a refugee. It is boring and miserable, leading a predictable life," he said, reminiscing of his days as a pastoralist back in Somalia. "I want to go back home and embark on keeping livestock and farming."

Abdi said his desire to go back home was further inspired after seeing some of his relatives leave with help from the UNHCR.

"I felt very emotional when one of my relatives bid me goodbye when they left on the buses headed home," he said. "It hit me hard that I should have submitted my name and the names of my six family members earlier for consideration."

"I witnessed as they boarded the buses, it was sheer joy and happiness," he said. "I felt a tinge of envy that it should have been me riding home after nearly five years here. I hope to be next."

Abdi said he is following up on his application with the UNHCR office at Ifo 2 camp.

"During departure one is given $80 and on arrival in Somalia the balance of $100 is paid," he said, adding that he is counting on the material and financial assistance provided by the UNHCR to start life afresh back home.

UN officials declined to comment on the amount of cash given to returning refugees, but other refugees confirmed they received a total of $180 upon arrival in Somalia.

Security improvement in Somalia

A mother and her children wait alongside other refugees to board a bus back to Somalia at Ifo refugee camp. [Bosire Boniface/Sabahi]

Nonetheless, some refugees say they are not waiting for the UNHCR to assist them with returning home.

Yassin Abdille Omar, 40, said he arrived at Kambioos camp with his family after fleeing the 2011 drought in Somalia, but they were never officially registered as refugees.

"The situation back home has since improved," he told Sabahi. Omar said he returned to Bulo Marer in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region last August, and then came back to the camps December 5th.

"I have been to Somalia to be involved in planting and returned to the camps. I made some good harvest and I just came back to the camps to pick [up] my wife and three children," he said, adding that they are planning to return to Bulo Marer soon.

Yusuf Ali Daud, 25, said he is leaving Dagahaley refugee camp because he feels intimidated by the Kenyan security forces patrolling the camps.

"Whenever there is a gun attack in the camps on security forces, police round up youths in the camps, accusing us being behind the attacks," he told Sabahi. "We are held in police cells for days, then released without charges."

The most recent such incident occurred November 29th when gunmen shot and killed a senior police officer and injured another one in a Dagahaley market.

"I am tired of the frequent encounter with police brutality," Daud said. "That is why January 20th will find me in Somalia through my own means. East or west, home is best."

Meanwhile, Somali Ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Nur encouraged more Somali refugees to volunteer to return home.

"The voluntary repatriation is an indication that there is hope in Somalia," Nur told Sabahi. "For those who have been repatriated, it means they did some research to know that things are better. It is our hope, as Somalia, that we have lasting peace to ensure that people do not live as refugees."

However, the ambassador assured, steps will be taken to ensure that no Somali refugees are repatriated against their will.

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