- UNHCR agreed to repatriate up to 100,000 refugees to other countries like USA, Canada, Ethiopia and South Sudan
- 10,000 to Somalia, 5,000 to Ethiopia, 5,000 to South Sudan, and 3,500 to Burundi by end of 2021.
Catholic clerics have urged the government not to close Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps.
Under the banner of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, the clerics said it was important to support vulnerable refugees.
"These are people whose lives have been disrupted by various reasons including mismanagement of resources, bad or lack of good governance structures, immature politics..."
The letter was dated April 9.
The clerics also said it was not ideal to repatriate refugees to Somalia, citing insecurity.
They called for dialogue among stakeholders to find a lasting solution.
Conference chairman Most Rev Philip Anyolo instead called for increased security and support to refugees and those who work directly with them.
The call comes after Kenya gave an ultimatum for a roadmap on the closure of the camps over, among other issues, insecurity and environmental degradation.
Interior CS Fred Matiang’i on March 23 said UNHCR should come up with a roadmap to close the camps.
UNHCR agreed to repatriate up to 100,000 refugees to other countries like USA, Canada, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Kenya has called for another meeting with UNHCR next week to deliberate on the way forward.
In the response to Kenya demands, the refugee agency said it is hosting 512,494 refugees and asylum seekers with 224,462 at Dadaab and 206,458 at Kakuma and Kalobeyei settlement and 81,574 in urban areas.
UNHCR has proposed community-based reintegration support in priority return areas in the main countries of origin, alternative solutions for refugees and asylum seekers from the East African Community and solutions for refugees with protection concerns in third countries and in Kenya.
UNHCR plans to relocate 10,000 to Somalia, 5,000 to Ethiopia, 5,000 to South Sudan, and 3,500 to Burundi by the end of this year.
Some 25,000 refugees will acquire residency status in EAC and settle 5,000 others in the US. However, due to lengthy security screening, no Somali departures are foreseen for 2021, the response says.
In Somalia and South Sudan, UNHCR will need increased presence in areas of return and expansion of facilities to host the staff and refugees. This can be done in 2022.