The difficult living situation in Yemen has prompted many Somali refugees to think about returning to their homes that they left many years ago to escape war and search for safety and security.

According to reports issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 6,000 Somali refugees have returned to their homeland from Yemen since the start of the implementation of the Assisted Voluntary Return Program in 2017.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that it will help more than 1,500 Somali refugees in Yemen to voluntarily return to their country during the coming days of the current year 2023.

The Commission said, in a statement, on its account on the

She indicated that, last Sunday, she was able to help a new batch of Somali refugees return voluntarily to their country, “via a boat trip from the port of Aden to the Somali port of Berbera, and they arrived safely.”

During the year 2023, the number of people wishing to return to their homes in Somalia increased, as a result of the increasing difficulties and lack of access to basic services, the struggle to cover basic needs, and the difficulty of supporting themselves in light of limited job and economic opportunities.

According to UN statistics, the number of refugees and asylum seekers in Yemen reached 71.5 thousand people in the first half of this year, the majority of whom are Somalis, at a rate of 65.6%.

Yemen has been a country hosting refugees for a long time, and it is the only country in the Arabian Peninsula that has signed the Refugee Convention and its Additional Protocol. Yemen currently hosts the third largest number of Somali refugees in the world.