106 Somali Refugees Returned Home On Feb 23, After Fleeing The Ongoing Conflict In Yemen.

One hundred and six Somali refugees returned to their homeland on Thursday (23 Feb) after fleeing the ongoing conflict in Yemen.
The returnees, who consisted of the elderly, women and children, arrived at Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport on Thursday morning on a commercial flight from Berbera, , after a difficult journey that began by boat in the Yemeni port of Aden.
Some of the returning Somalis wept openly as they recounted the harrowing experiences they endured in Yemen. Many of them had originally sought refuge from Somalia’s civil war in the 1990s.
Layla Mohamed Salah, 38, who spent 15 years in Yemen, said, “We hated life in Yemen. It was bad, and we longed to return to our country to live with our people.”
Aydurus Sharif Mohamed spent more than 20 years in Yemen, and he explained how hardship compounded by the deteriorating security situation in Yemen forced him to flee the capital Sana’a and move to other cities before returning to Somalia. The 71-year-old returnee said he witnessed intense aerial bombardments and clashes forced him to flee to Aden where he experienced many difficulties.
Sam Grundy, Head of operations in Somalia for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), noted that security conditions in Aden had hampered efforts to evacuate more Somalis from the war-torn country. He said returnees spoke of a “much larger number” of Somalis seeking to return to their homeland adding that his organization was working with all the stakeholders involved to ensure that happens.
Ahmed Nur, chief of the Somali Government commission responsible for refugees, hailed the safe arrival of the returnees. He said some returnees were saying that Yemen was “much more risky” than Somalia in terms of security and livelihood.
The evacuees were taken to an IOM reception centre where they will receive support to help them reintegrate in Somalia.