Close to 20,000 Somali refugees have returned home since December 2014, and more than half of them have gone back this year, the UN refugee agency has said.
In the last two months, the agency said in its bi-monthly report released yesterday, some 1,061 returnees were transported by road, while 211 returned to Mogadishu by air. During this period, 1,581 refugees sought help at the Return Help Desks where they received return-related information or were processed for repatriation.
There has been a sharp increase in refugees visiting the return help desks, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said. Kenya and the UN agency are working on a programme that will ensure a smooth and voluntary repatriation of more than 300,000 refugees living in five camps at the Dadaab refugee complex. Kenya has issued an ultimatum to close the camps by the end of the year.
