Somalia not ready for refugees return-agency

Newly arrived Somali refugees wait outside the registration center at Ifo camp in Daadab refugee camp July 10,2011 North Eastern Kenya.

AFP PHOTO/SIMON MAINA Newly arrived Somali refugees wait outside the registration center at Ifo camp in Daadab refugee camp July 10,2011 North Eastern Kenya.

Friday, July 19, 2013

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A medical relief agency operating at the Dadaab Camp has joined calls urging the Kenyan government to delay relocation of Somali refugees.

Doctors without Borders (MSF), that operates a 300-bed hospital in Dagahaley sub-camp, said most of the regions in Somalia are not yet favourable for them to operate.

According to them, most of the refugees still require regular medical attention.

“From what we see in the field, the suggested return would be premature, since the security conditions at the Somalia side of the border are still not conducive.

“As a result of insecurity, service delivery is still very poor. Local administration institutions are not yet in place, ” Elena Vellila, MSF Head of Mission in Kenya told the Nation on Monday.

Kenya hosts about 600,000 Somali refugees with over half of them camped at Dadaab.

The government wants them to go back home partly because the country has been relatively secured by the African Union Mission in Somalia forces.

There are also suspicions that some of the refugees are al-Shabaab sympathisers.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) suggested that imminent repatriation be done in phases based on international standards.

Commissioner Antonio Guterres proposed a joint commission made up of Kenya, Somalia and the UN agency be formed to manage the relocation process.

“If we do these returns properly, they can be a positive factor for development in Somalia. On the other hand, if huge numbers of refugees go home prematurely, they could contribute to destabilisation,” he said.

Mr Guterres was speaking during a meeting with Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku last week.

According to him, countries that host refugees - Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti - should start by offering basic necessities to those willing to go back home.

The next step, Mr Guterres said, would be a pilot project under which UNHCR to assist groups of refugees return to selected places that are declared safe and stable.

Later, as conditions improve, more refugees can be relocated.

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