A Somali family waits to board a bus that will take them back home to Somalia from the Dadaab refugee camp in a voluntary repatriation programme, in Kenya January 21, 2016. /REUTERS
A Somali family waits to board a bus that will take them back home to Somalia from the Dadaab refugee camp in a voluntary repatriation programme, in Kenya January 21, 2016. /REUTERS
The government has extended the closure of Dadaab refugee camp by six months to May 2017, following a request last week by a special UNHCR envoy on the Somali situation.
Kenya had vowed to shut Dadaab camp this month, saying it was being used by al Shabaab militants who continue to sporadic attacks in several parts of the country.
But rights groups criticised the decision saying it would hurt Somalis fleeing violence and poverty, and further accused Kenya of forcibly sending them back to a war zone. The government dismissed the allegation.
Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery said the extension gives the international community time to ensure refugees return to a safe place.
“The elaborate repatriation programme will begin in December because of the delicate security situation in Somalia,” he told journalists in Nairobi on Wednesday.
Nkaissery noted the closure of the camp, for security and economic reasons, does not mean Kenya will no longer receive refugees.
He said all non-Somali refugees will be moved to other camps in February 2017.