Updates on achievements
Go and See visit
UNHCR organized a Go and See visit for Somali refugees in refugee camps in Dabaab (Kenya).
Through Go and See visits, refugees familiarize themselves with the situation in Somalia. This gives them the opportunity to make an informed and voluntary decision in case they wish to return.
A four-day Go and See visit was attended by 37 Somali refugee representatives. One group of 20 refugees visited Baidoa and another group of 17 refugees visited Mogadishu. From 15 to 19 January, the representatives met with government officials, visited education and health facilities and met with returnees, IDPs and partners.
A group of refugees visiting Baidoa expressed a wish that return to Baidoa should resume by air, instead of by road. Furthermore, they expressed the need to improve access to education, health and other services and to allocate land for returnees by the State of South West (SSW). The President of SWS, who also met with refugees, assured them of land for permanent houses and emphasized the SWS is ready to receive them if they choose to return. The President of the SWS also urged UNHCR and state Ministry of Resettlement and Diaspora Affairs (MoRDA) to resume return flights to Baidoa.
Cross-border coordination meeting
Cross-border coordination meeting aims to review the management coordination for return. It also discusses measures to ensure that returnees can make informed and voluntary decisions determined by the conditions, absorption capacity and assistance in the country of origin.
On 23 January in Nairobi, UNHCR, partners and government counterparts conveyed a cross-border coordination meeting related to Voluntary Repatriation from Kenya. Representatives from the National Commission for Refugees and IDPs (NCRI), the Jubbaland Refugee and Internally Displaced Person’s Agency (JRIA), and the Ministry of Refugees and Diaspora Affairs (MoRDA) of the SSW also attended the meeting.
The main issues discussed included the resumption of road convoys subject to security clearance, the need for additional support to develop education in major return locations, and the need for close coordination between government, humanitarian and development actors on reintegration site development, in particular on ensuring water accessibility.
Return support to Somali refugee returnees
Repatriation is considered one of the three traditional durable solutions. UNHCR, therefore, provides support to Somali refugee returnees who opt for a voluntary repatriation. Under the Repatriation Programme, refugee returnees are provided with the enhanced return package1 to help them to achieve reintegration and self-reliance after their return home. Chapters below show specific achievements towards return and reintegration.