I am ready to receive my people Somalia president

Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Monday said he is ready to receive his people, saying the return of the refugees is an indication that Somalia is progressing.

Speaking at Hilac Primary School in Ifo Refugee camp, President Hassan thanked the Kenyan Government for its hospitality saying Kenya offered a ‘brotherly shoulder’ for 25 years and expected the process of repatriation to go on without incident.

“The services in some parts of Somalia are comparable to the services in the refugee camps. But still there are many places lacking those services and the Government of Somalia in collaboration with the international community is working to provide those services back home where the refugees are going to settle,” said the Somalia President.

Kenya plans to close all of its refugee camps in a move that would see more than 600,000 refugees go back to their countries of origin.

Early May, the government declared that it will no longer be hosting refugees in the interest of national security. Kenya said it was shutting down the camps due to “very heavy” economic, security and environmental issues. Those due to close include Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in the world, home to more than 300,000 people on the Kenya-Somalia border.

“The war on terror is a global war which Somalia is part of. This type of incidents take place in most advanced countries,” said President Mohamud.

The closure of the camps is reported to begin in September and the Kenyan Government has already disbanded the Department of Refugee Affairs, which worked with humanitarian organisations for the welfare of the refugees.

The government had previously said that the closure of the Dadaab refugee complex and repatriation of Somali refugees will be carried out in a humane manner.