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NAIROBI, 29th April 2021 (PSCU) – Kenya and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have agreed on a repatriation roadmap for refugees in Kakuma and Dadaab camps.
At the meeting, also attended by Head of Public Service Dr Joseph Kinyua, and Cabinet Secretaries Amb Raychelle Omamo (Foreign Affairs) and Dr Fred Matiang’i (Interior), President Kenyatta said Kenya is committed to finding a humane and sustainable solution to the refugee challenge in Kenya and the region.
The roadmap includes provisions for voluntary safe return of refugees to their home nations, departures to third countries under various arrangements, and alternative stay options in Kenya for refugees from the East African Community (EAC) member states.
The plan that will be implemented by a team of Government and UNHCR officials was agreed upon Thursday evening during a meeting between President Uhuru Kenyatta and the visiting UN Refugee Agency’s High Commissioner Filippo Grandi who paid the Head of State a courtesy visit at State House, Nairobi.
At a separate meeting, also at State House Nairobi, Kenyatta met Dr Mariam Alsadiaq Almahdi, a Special Envoy of Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
Almahdi, who is also her country’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, delivered a special message from Prime Minister Hamdok to Kenyatta.
This comes days after the United States government implored the country to relax its planned closure of refugee camps reiterating that it has been financially supporting Kenya to host refugees and asylum seekers from other African countries including Somalia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia among others.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met, virtually, with Kenyatta where he generally called for more cooperation on security, health and human rights.
However, his office had preceded the meeting with calls to relax an imminent closure of the two refugee camps in Dadaab, Garissa County and Kakuma in Turkana.
According to communication from the US State department, Kenya was given nearly USD106 million (approximately Ksh.11 billion) for refugee protection and humanitarian assistance last year.
“The U.S. has provided nearly $106 million for refugee protection and humanitarian assistance to help Kenya as it provides regional leadership by hosting refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and elsewhere,” says the State department.
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