Wednesday August 8, 2018
The U.N. refugee and migration agencies have helped 116 Somali refugees
return home from war-torn Yemen, although conditions in parts of Somalia
remain unsafe.
The boat, which sailed from Aden, Yemen on
Saturday arrived in the port of Berbera in Somalia the day after. Among
its passengers were female heads of households, several students hoping
to resume their educations, and a critically ill patient traveling with
his family.
Since the so-called assisted spontaneous
return program began in 2017, the U.N. refugee agency and International
Organization for Migration have helped more than 2,000 Somali refugees
return to their homes of origin.
UNHCR spokesman William Spindler
says the Somali refugees are living under precarious conditions and,
like the Yemenis themselves, are not receiving adequate aid and
protection.
“Refugees are vulnerable to early marriage, child
labor, detention and to the risk of dangerous onward movement. These
circumstances have added to the urgent need for UNHCR to increase
humanitarian support, mitigate risks and find lasting solutions for
these people.”
Spindler tells VOA that UNHCR is not promoting returns to Somalia because they are not sustainable.
But
he says his agency is responding to demands from refugees for help to
return home because the alternative of remaining in Yemen is worse.
“From
our perspective, the situation in Somalia is far from safe. But, at the
same time, Yemen, as we know is facing the world’s worst humanitarian
crisis with outbreaks of disease, with food insecurity and with an
ongoing conflict that has displaced millions of people.”
When the
refugees arrive in Somalia, Spindler says they receive a cash grant and
an allowance, as well as household items, food assistance from the
World Food Program, and an education allowance for primary school
children.