Monday, November 28, 2011
The Somalis will be moved on a voluntary basis to areas now controlled by the Government and the Kenya Defence Forces.
Supporting the exercise is the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Society in Somalia, whose director, Mohamed Abdullahi, says the plan is to have the resettled IDPs take advantage of what is left of the rainy season to plant.
The heavy rains have delayed the advance of TFG and KDF on Afmadow and Kismayu for several weeks.
President Kibaki visited UAE recently and discussed, among other matters, increased aid for Somali refugees and IDPs.
Those who agree to move will receive between Sh9,000 ($100) and S14,000 ($150) per household. Most of the IDPs targeted for resettlement are in Bakool, Lower Shabelle and Bay regions of southern Somalia.
Kenya had also hinted that it intends to reduce its burden of hosting hundreds of Somali refugees in Dadaab by repatriating them to camping areas under control of TFG and KDF forces in Somalia.
On Tuesday, Internal Security PS Francis Kimemia said the presence of the refugees in Dadaab is a threat to security.
"It is a major issue to us and that is why we have been appealing to the international community to come in and look for a way of relocating them to safer areas inside Somalia," said Kimemia.
"Remember, we have had several insecurity related incidents in these camps. Hosting more than 500,000 refugees is not an easy task. We have recovered a number of guns from these refugees," said Kimemia.
The PS said additional police officers have been deployed to camps in Dadaab to help address insecurity.
About 220 officers are now deployed in Dadaab, which consists of five camps spread across 50sq kilometres.