The Kenyan government has extended the deadline for the closure of Dadaab refugee camp by six months, citing the delicate security situation in Somalia as the reason for the extension.
Dadaab camp, world’s largest refugee settlement, is now set to be shut in May 2017.
The East African country’s government had set a November 30 deadline for the closure of the camp, saying it posed a huge security threat.
The government said Islamist militants had used the camp to plan and launch attacks in various regions within the country.
The UNCHR appealed to the Kenyan authorities to stop the closure of the camp but the government insisted that the camp had to be shut.
Kenya’s minister of interior security Joseph Ole Nkaissery said in a press briefing that an elaborate repatriation programme will start next month to ensure the refugees return to their homes safely.
