The arrival of 116 Somali refugees from Kenya at Mogadishu International Airport of Somali on Wednesday marked a new chapter in the voluntary return process, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in Geneva.

This is the result of efforts by the Tripartite Commission formed by UNHCR and the Governments of Kenya and Somalia to step up support for voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees.

The 116 Somalis were from Dadaab in Northeastern Kenya, where is the largest refugee settlement in the world while still hosting some 333,000 Somali refugees.

UNHCR said despite the fragile security environment situation in Somalia, the refugees have started to return and between December 2014 and early August.

A total of 2,969 Somali refugees have returned back to their motherland with UNHCR support as part of the pilot phase.

Under the current agreement, assistance will be provided to returnees to any area of Somaliland, Puntland and South Central Somalia, and the UNHCR support includes standardized financial and in-kind assistance to ensure safe and dignified return, as well as longer-term support to help returnees reintegrate in areas they once fled from.

The Tripartite Commission was established following the signing of the Tripartite Agreement between the governments of Kenya and Somalia and UNHCR in November 2013 to govern the safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees from Kenya.

"The majority of the returns from Kenya to Somalia will continue to take place by road as has been the case during the pilot phase, and only for people with specific protection needs will UNHCR facilitate airlifts," a spokesperson from UNHCR said.

Following more than two decades of instability in Somalia compounded by consequences of recurring natural hazards, UNHCR believes that urgent solutions are needed for the 1.1 million internally displaced Somalis as well as the more than 900,000 Somali refugees hosted in the region, half of whom reside in Kenya. Endit

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