Three years after Kenya put in place a voluntary scheme for Somali refugees to go home, the UN’s refugee agency, (UNHCR) announced on Friday that over 65,000 of them have done so. Nairobi has previously threatened to shut down Dadaab, one of the world’s largest camps. Critics are worried that the fate of its refugees will be overshadowed by the general election.
“I’ve seen many people write their names to the UNHCR to go back to Somalia, but mine not yet,” Somali refugee Mohamed Aboubakar told RFI from Kakuma camp, Kenya’s second largest camp after Dadaab on the border with Somalia.
“For me, I have no confidence to go back there because you know that place I left since 1992, up till now I’ve been in the Dadaab camps and Kakuma.”
Kenya had given refugees in Dadaab–home to more than 328,000 people, most of whom are Somalis escaping conflict in their country–by the end of May 2017 to leave.
But a last minute ruling by the Kenyan High Court in February blocked that order, calling it unconstitutional and a blatant act of discrimination against Somalis.
“Most of my family was killed,” continues Mohamed. “My mum is still there in Somalia. But I have no confidence to go back.”