Kenyan IDPs living in Uganda to return next week

Kiryandongo refugee camp where some Kenyans who fled the 2008 post-election violence have been living. FILE PHOTO | GEORGE MUZOORA | NATION MEDIA GROUP.  

In Summary

• Kenyans sought refuge in Uganda have been living in a camp in Kiryandogo refugee settlement in Masindi District for the last seven years.
• So far, 950 refugees have registered and will be returned home on May 5.

By AGGREY MUTAMBO
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The Kenyan government has said it will start bringing back home its citizens who fled to Uganda during the 2008 post-election violence.

The Department of Refugee Affairs said it had agreed with Ugandan authorities and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to bring in the more than 1300 Kenyans.

“The programme is voluntary but we have a huge number of them who have said they are ready to return so we will start bringing them in from next week, in collaboration with the UNHCR,” Mr Haron Komen, the Refugee Commissioner told the Nation on Thursday.

“They will be going to their respective homes; most of them had come from urban areas so we are working with some NGOs to resettle them,” he added.

On Wednesday, Ugandan authorities announced they had reached a deal with Kenya to see all the 1,350 Kenyans return home. Although the arrangement was to take place in 90 days, it could take shorter than that is if at all they are willing to return.

“There are still a few who haven’t said they want to come although some have started coming back on their own,” Mr Komen said.

Kenyans sought refuge in Uganda have been living in a camp in Kiryandogo refugee settlement in Masindi District for the last seven years.

RELOCATION PLAN

“Their reason for fleeing was the 2007 election violence, which is no more. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenyan government to guide their return,” Mr Apollo Kazungu, the Ugandan Refugee Commissioner told the Daily Monitor on Wednesday.

The two government say they conducted a survey which showed that the refugees were willing to leave the camp for home although the cost of the programme was not immediately given.

“In the last three months there have been a verification exercise, there are 242 families and there is a complete relocation plan for them by the ministry of devolution which is also working with the UNHCR,” Foreign Affairs PS Karanja Kibicho told reporters in Nairobi on Thursday.

So far, 950 refugees have registered and will be returned home on May 5.

However, Mr Patrick Mwanji, one of the refugees, told the Monitor that said they were informed at short notice hence are unprepared to go back to Kenya.

“They only told us about it (return) on April 10. We are not prepared to go because we had gardens here and moreover they are giving us little money to facilitate our settlement back home.

“We are forced to go back because we do not have an option but to go into the IDP camps in Kenya,” Mr Mwanji said.