Somali President Says, Safe And Orderly Return Of Somali Refugees Is A Priority

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said his government views the safe and orderly return of Somali refugees to their homes as an important priority barely days after Kenyan government and UN agreed on the repatriation of Somali refugees in Dadaab camp.

“As President, I can assure you that my government is doing absolutely everything possible to safely return our people home. This is their home and we fully understand that there is no place like home,” President Mohamud said in a statement on World Refugee Day.

On June 16th Kenya’s Foreign Minister, Amina Mohamed said the UN gave the nod to close Dadaab camp by November of this year.

“We briefed him on the modalities and means through which we will conduct the exercise. We informed him the process will be humane and in line with international standards,’ said Amina while speaking to the media.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta issued a joint statement last week following a meeting in Nairobi in which both committed to working jointly on the orderly, humane and dignified repatriation of Somali refugees back to Somalia as per the Tripartite Agreement.

The two countries and UNHCR signed a Tripartite Agreement in 2014 which outlined the process for voluntary repatriation of refugees from Dadaab camp