He called for support from all UN member states.
Somali refugees at the Dagahaley Refugee Camp in Kenya. The President said the repatriation has started and called on the global community to work with Kenya to ensure its succeeds. PHOTO | AFP
By PSCU
enya’s decision to repatriate Somali refugees is irreversible, President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Friday.
The President said the repatriation has started and called on the global community to work with Kenya to ensure its succeeds.
The Head of State was holding talks with the UN deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, who paid him a courtesy call at State House, Nairobi.
He said Kenya’s action should not be misinterpreted as a move to abandon its international obligations. He said that the country has hosted refugees from neighbouring nations for decades.
He emphasised that Kenya viewed the repatriation of the refugees as one way of stabilising Somalia.
The President assured the international community that Kenya will handle the repatriation process in accordance to international standards and in the most humane way.
He called for support from all UN member states.
He said as a result of the large population of refugees, natural resources such as water and pasture were ruined in the areas they inhabited, accelerating the threat of conflicts in the region now and in the future.
He added that refugees are a shared responsibility and hence the international community has a duty to support Kenya in ensuring that they are repatriated in the best way possible.
“We have made a non-permanent situation look permanent,” he said.
Mr Eliasson praised Kenya for helping to stabilise the region, especially Somalia and South Sudan.
He said the UN shared Kenya’s concerns and it will look for ways of addressing the issue.
He further said he will communicate Kenya’s position to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee Filippo Grandi once he gets back to New York.
Source: Daily Nation
