Drama As Refugees Demand To Be Taken Back To Uganda

The refugees who were recently repatriated from Kiryandongo refugee camp in Western Uganda are now demanding to be taken back, after they rejected a settlement offer from the government.

The refugees said the Ksh 50,000 settlement they were being offered by the government was not going to be enough to rebuild their lives.

The Kenyans who were displaced during the 2007 post election violence said they agreed to come back after being promised Ksh 400,000, the same amount offered to those internally displaced after the violence.

According to The Star Newspaper, a team from the Devolution ministry was forced to return to Nairobi with the money after the returnees refused to take the money, claiming to have been promised much more by the president during his visit to Kampala last year.

The Daily Nation Newspaper however quotes the United Nations Kenya Commissioner for Refugees Aaron Komen saying that the refugees misunderstood the terms of the compensation.

According to Komen, the KSh50,000 was not per family, but per individual in each family, and the total amount received depended on the family size. He added that those with many family members would receive more money.

The returnees were supposed to leave the camps in Malaba town after three days.

  • .