Somalia: Jubaland accuses UNHCR of intentionally creating humanitarian Catastrophe

[Deeq A.]

 

By: Ahmed Abdi

Nairobi, Kenya—A senior Jubaland State official says the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has “intentionally created a humanitarian catastrophe” in the Jubaland state of Somalia. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visited Kismayo late December as part of UN repatriation programs for Somali refugees living in Dadaab camp. Under that plan up to 25,000 Somalis have been repatriated from North Eastern Province camps, Kenya, for the last couple of years alone, with the promise of receiving assistance and proper reintegration from UNHCR. Critics of the plan say that UNHCR is outsourcing its responsibilities by partnering NGOs that are not supporting the returning Somali nationals. “People started to go back the same camps that UNHR established for them 27 years ago,” said Abdirashid Ali Gooni, Governor of Lower Juba. Speaking with the Voice of America in Nairobi, he said returned Somalis are treated like livestock which created UN-made humanitarian Catastrophe. Mr. Gooni said I am deeply concerned that the UNHCR neglected them the same people that would be provided food, water and education for their young children. “Housing them was not enough for their survival and the same place that was settled belonged to other people who demand their return.” “The UNHCR’s work in the Jubaland state of Somalia is not transparency and contradicts the agreements that we have reached, “said Mr. Gooni. On 20 December 2017, Canada’s Minister of Immigration Ahmed Hussein who himself visited the Dadaab Camp announced 25 million U.S dollar for the vulnerable Somali refugees in the Kenyan Camps. But the question is, will that money go to the vulnerable people that needed to avail Canada’s traditional generosity in terms of refugees and immigrants