Somali PM visits Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp

DADAAB – Somalia’s prime minister has paid a visit to the world’s largest refugee camp in Kenya to meet with refugees from his country where attacks by insurgents and decades of civil war have displaced millions from their homelands.

Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke accompanied by other delegates including ministers and humanitarian workers met hundreds of Somali refugees at the camp in northern Kenya which hosted about 500,000 refugees as of mid-2015 of which  95% Somalis, according to UNHCR.

During his hours-long visit, Mr. Abdirashid’s was briefed about the living condition of his fellow Somalis in the camp where Refugees typically live in tents, made of plastic sheets.

His visit comes as the Kenyan government continues to campaign the repatriation of Somali refugees in the camps due to security concerns since the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab group fighting in the neighboring Somalia carried out a deadly attack on Garissa university in northern eastern Kenya in which more than 148 people, mostly students were killed.