A section of Dadaab camp [ Photo/nation.co.ke]
A number of refugees who were putting up at the Dadaab camp have already returned to their homes.
According to a local daily, more than 34,000 refugees from the nation of Somali have returned to their motherland following calls from the Kenyan government and other groups. The total number of refugees who have made their way back home has now risen to around 75, 000 following the recent development.
The total population that had opted to leave the camp is considered way below the anticipated number as per 2014 when plans to close the camp hit headlines of different local dailies. The camp is said to host a total of 238,617 refugees, a majority of them Somalis.
There are around 285,705 refugees of Somali origin in the nation with some of them living in Kakuma, Turkana County.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that only those refugees who are voluntarily willing to leave the country have taken the bold step despite security still an issue of concern in the nation.Speaking during a press conference in Nairobi, Mr. Filippo Grandi, the UNHCR head, said that the international body is satisfied with the rate of refugee return to their motherland. “We are satisfied with the process, that it is voluntary. Those that leave make the decision to leave, nobody is imposing on them to leave,” he said, as quoted by Daily Nation.
He also revealed that they are only being flown back to their homes because of the weather conditions.
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