President Uhuru Kenyatta is urging the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to support the government’s initiative to repatriate refugees from the Dadaab camp.

While pointing out that the decision to send the refugees back to their home country is final, State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu reiterated the government’s assurance that it will be done in a humane manner.

He stated that the decision was mainly driven by the environmental and security dangers posed in the country by hosting the refugees.

Kenya has been hosting more than 350,000 Somali refugees for more than two decades.

“This (Sunday) morning, the President met the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. His message on Dadaab is the same. That the decision to repatriate the refugees is final, and that partner organisations such as UNHCR should step up the plate and work on his this process can be accomplished in a humane way and without threat to anyone’s life,” Esipisu told journalists at a briefing in State House soon after the meeting.

Esipisu further indicated that President Kenyatta will also be seeking the European Union support in the initiative during his visit to Brussels set for Monday next week, when he will meet Prime Minister Charles Michel.