North Eastern Regional Administrator Ambassador Mahmoud Saleh has described the number of Dadaab refugees willing to return to their Somalia nation as overwhelming, contrary to the media reports that the refugees are being forced to go home.
“The recorded number of Somalia refugees at the camps who are queuing to return back home is growing each day,” he said.
Speaking to the press in his office, Saleh said that the verification of the Somalia refugees in Ifo camps, Dagahaley and Hagadera will be concluded within the allocated time frame.
He dismissed reports that the Kenyan government had pushed the camps closure for a month because of alleged logistical problems.
“If there was any necessary intention to push the dates forward, then it should have been communicated prior by the Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery,” Saleh added.
The regional coordinator further said the absorption rate by UNHCR inSomalia is evidently slower because it does not have the capacity to accommodate all the refugees at ago.
“UNHCR Somalia has never established enough infrastructure to accomodate all the refugees before they are eventually resettled in their home country,” he said.
However, the refugees will be sent back as families where the Kenyan government and the UNHCR are closely working to identify close relatives using fingerprints.