Somali migrants return home after detention in Uganda and Tanzania

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Following confinement in detention centers in Uganda and Tanzania, 14 Somali migrants returned voluntarily to Somali capital Mogadishu

The migrants, who were incarcerated in Uganda and Tanzania, have arrived voluntarily at airport in Mogadishu with transportation organized by the United Nations migration.

Today’s special chartered flight was provided by IOM, in collaboration with the Uganda, Tanzania and Somali governments and with funding from the European Union.

Working with the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), IOM and UNHCR will oversee their resettlement and reintegration in the country.

Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire has welcomed the repatriation of Somali migrants.

“We continue to strive to secure the freedom of Somalis stranded or incarcerated abroad and facilitate their safe return home”, he said.

The United Nations migration Agency (IOM) has tracked more than 660,000 migrants in Libya, where they are exposed to numerous risks, including smuggling, trafficking, kidnapping, abuse, detention and torture. The true number of migrants there could be closer to one million people