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16th
June 2004
UNHCR
objects to forced returns to southern Somalia
Following press
reports on the forced return of failed Somali asylum seekers from
the UK, UNHCR has reiterated its position that involuntary return
of rejected asylum seekers should not take place to southern Somalia,
which includes the capital, Mogadishu. Furthermore, no Somali should
be involuntarily returned to an area of the country from which he
or she does not originate.
In general UNHCR
has no objection to countries sending failed asylum seekers back
home in a humane manner, with full respect for human rights and
dignity. However in relatively rare cases - current examples include
Iraq and parts of Afghanistan - UNHCR believes the situation is
simply too unstable or potentially dangerous. In such cases UNHCR,
along with other aid agencies are often unable to actually monitor
returns properly, and have incomplete information about the risks
to individuals, which means people are being sent back into something
of a black hole.
Few agencies
have a permanent international presence in southern Somalia and
all UN flights in southern Somalia were recently suspended, because
of the security risks. There have been reports of a sharp deterioration
in the general security situation in Mogadishu over the past few
months, marked by heavy fighting and serious human rights violations.
ENDS
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