Somali Refugees Guaranteed Safety during Repatriation

Kenya has assured Somali refugees that their repatriation to their homeland will be an orderly one that guarantees their security. The assurance comes in the wake of widespread fears that the government may use forceful means to return the refugees to Somalia.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed revealed that there were plans for a conference to be held next month to discuss the repatriation process. “We are working closely with the Somali government and UNHCR to develop orderly, safe and sustainable ways of repatriating the refugees,” she stated.

Allegations of victimisation and harassment have surfaced from refugees who opted to return to Somalia in line with a voluntary repatriation deal signed between Mogadishu and Nairobi in June. Some refugees have also become increasingly resistant to moving back to somalia on the their own volition.

A court ruling by the Kenyan High Court last week barred the state from forcefully repatriating refugees in Nairobi because it would constitute a violation of their dignity. The case, filed by 55,000 complainants, argued that the presence of these refugees in Kenya was not a threat to national security.

Somalia's relative calm will make such relocations a reality (Photo courtesy of www.capitalfm.co.ke)

Certain sections of Somali refugees have come under criticism for furthering terrorist activities in the country through grenade attacks in major towns. The spate of grenade attacks later heightened hostilities between Kenyans and Somalis in Eastleigh who engaged each other in violence in November last year.

A Human Rights Watch report in 2013 accused the Kenyan police of violating human rights of Somali refugees between November 2012 and January 2013. The violations ranged from arbitrary arrests, rape, extortions and torture of close to 1,000 refugees in Nairobi. The report accuses the police of taking advantage of a government order for the relocation of urban refugees to refugee camps to mete out hell on these communities.

Somalia has been ravaged by civil wars for over two decades although it is currently enjoying an uneasy calm. Kenya has been the most affected by the war with thousands of refugees flocking the country—it is host to over 600,000 refugees from Somalia. This number makes Kenya the leading host of refugees in Africa.

Do you think the time is right for Somali refugees to go back home?