Kakuma Refugee Camp | File picture

NAIROBI, (Eye Radio) – Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said the country is receiving an average of 20 refugees per day from South Sudan since the escalation of the political tension and conflict in the country.

Mudavadi told a Senate plenary on Wednesday, April 2, that while the crisis continues to worsen, the influx of refugees has also posed security challenges for the country.

“I think it should be on record that even as we speak, the situation in South Sudan is getting worse, and we are beginning to see again another inflow at the rate of about 20 refugees per day,” he said.

“So we are beginning to see certain circumstances that are giving us challenges,” he stated.

Thousands of South Sudanese refugees who fled the civil conflict that erupted in December 2013 and 2016 have already sought sanctuary in Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps.

Kenya’s Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei settlement host over 148,000 South Sudanese refugees, one of the largest refugee populations globally.

Mudavadi has attributed delays in the implementation of a multi-year initiative aimed at transforming refugee camps in Turkana and Garissa into integrated settlement, to ongoing regional crises, including the conflict in Sudan.

The initiative, known as the Shirika plan, aims to promote self- reliance and socio-economic inclusion for both refugees and host communities.

His remarks come as the government plans to repatriate Kenyan refugees currently residing in Ethiopia’s Dillo and Megado refugee camps, who have expressed interest in returning home.

Those Kenyan refugees fled to Ethiopia between 2005 and 2006 after being displaced from Marsabit County due to conflicts.