The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) has voluntarily repatriated a total of 254,811 refugees since 2011.
The repatriation to Mogadishu and Kismayu is mainly done by air after the use of buses was suspended due to poor roads occasioned by heavy floods along Dadaab-Liboi-Dhobley road.
Speaking during the refugee market day in Dadaab town, Head of Operations at the UNHCR Dadaab Sub-office, Jean Bosco Rushatsi noted that another 4,949 non Somali refugees have been relocated to Kalobeyei in Kakuma camp.
He said his office was in a constant communication with their colleagues in Somalia who takes over the refugees as soon as they cross over the Kenyan border, in line with a tripartite agreement signed by the Kenya and Somalia governments together with UNHCR in November 2013.
However, refugees interviewed were reluctant to return back to their countries of origin through voluntary repatriation citing lack of social amenities such as proper health care, education and insecurity.
So far, a majority of the refugees have been trained by UN agencies in various livelihood skills that they said will help them in self-reliance when they return to their country of origin.