Thursday, January 31, 2013
By Chrispinus Omar
NAIROBI, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency said Wednesday a section of theSomali refugees living in Kenya have expressed willingness to return to Somalia asnormalcy returns to southern part of the Horn of Africa nation.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had been approached by 18families living in Dadaaab's Ifo 2 refugee camp in northern Kenya, expressing theirinterest to turn to Somalia and confirming their readiness to surrender their rationcards.
"This latter element is an important indicator of intent as it implies a willingness tovoluntarily repatriate, as opposed to temporarily return," UNHCR said in its SituationReport released in Nairobi.
Relief agencies working in Daadab attribute the movement to refugees crossing theborder back to Somalia as that of refugees returning in search of work in Somalia aswell as to check up on their farms and the assess the situation on the ground,especially as Al-Shaabab has ceded many towns and areas following the offensive bythe AMISOM forces.
Some 77,000 Somalis have so far sought refuge in neighboring countries in 2012 whilesome 430 people were internally displaced while in November alone, another 5,400were internally displaced, mainly in South Central Somalia, in particular from the coastalcity of Kismayo.
The Horn of Africa nation is the most affected country within the Horn of Africa by theongoing drought, widely regarded as the worst in 60 years.
Early this month, UNHCR also reported spontaneous returns of displaced people in thenewly accessible areas of south-central Somalia, including some 2,000 people whoreturned to Kismayo in November and December 2012.
The UN refugee agency said together with two other organizations' monitoring missionto the Liboi border point on Jan. 25 concluded that refugees both from Dadaab andfrom Nairobi were continuing to cross the border into Somalia.
"On average, two buses per day were arriving carrying refugees, one from Nairobi andone from Dadaab," the UN agency said.
According to statistics collected by Refugee Consortium Kenya, 510 refugees crossedthe border in the period Jan. 18 - 24, 378 arriving from Nairobi and 132 from Dadaab.
"The majority of the urban refugees were not registered with UNHCR. The Nairobiarrivals cited police harassment as the main cause for their decision to return," UNHCRsaid.
In the same period, UNHCR said there was a move in the other direction, with 104 newrefugees crossing into Kenya, claiming they were fleeing recruitment by Al-Shabaab inMiddle Juba.
The Kenyan government in mid December 2012 stopped registration of refugees andasylum seekers mainly from Somalia in urban areas with immediate effect due toinsecurity incidents across the country.
Acting Commissioner for Refugee Affairs Badu Saro Katelo also ordered officials toclose down all registration centers in the urban areas, saying such exercise will beundertaken at the refugee camps in northern Kenya.
Katelo said all asylum seekers/refugees will be registered and hosted at the refugeecamps and ordered all asylum seekers and refugees from Somalia to report to Dadaabrefugee camps in northeast Kenya while asylum seekers from other countries shouldreport to Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya. However, on Jan. 23, High CourtJudge David Majanja ordered the government to stop implementing its Dec. 18, 2012order until the petition filed by the civil society is heard and determined.
Since the plan was announced, human rights organizations say the police in Nairobihave arbitrarily arrested hundreds of Somali nationals, most of whom have beenreleased after paying hefty bribes.
Reports from airline companies and aid workers on the Kenya- Somali border near theDadaab camps say that since December 2012 over 1,000 Somalis have returned totheir country every week, either by air or over land.
Some told aid workers in Somalia they left because they feared a crackdown againstSomali refugees in Kenya.
The East African nation is also hosting nearly half a million refugees from Somalia andhas delayed their repatriation until the security situation in the country improves further.
UNHCR said the population of Kambioos (new camp) is slowly increasing, with a fewfamilies arriving from other camps every week.
"The 68 individuals arrived to Kambioos from Ifo 2, most of them citing insecurity in thatcamp as the reason for their relocation. Some Ifo 2 residents also moved toDagahaley," the refugee agency said.
However, violence and crime decreased markedly in Ifo 2 during the reporting period aspolice stepped up their presence in the camp, it said
Latest reports by UN indicate that there has been a gradual increase in the number ofinternational aid workers operating in southern Somalia, following the withdrawal of Al-Shabaab from key towns.