This archive report was first published on 25 June 2021.
Published on June 25, 2021, a multi-agency team working with civil society organizations has been successfully bringing back Kenyan youths who had been lured into Somalia to receive military training under al-Shabaab.
More than 300 youths from the Coast region, mostly aged below 30 years, had been recruited by the militants to stage terror attacks in their own country.
Speaking at Frere town in Mombasa, Canon Harun Rashid from the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) revealed that the government had unconditionally accepted back the youths after they opted out of the terror group.
"The government has profiled and is now guiding them so that they don't slide back to terror activities. This has been made possible by engaging several civil society organisations (CSOs), which have initiated reform programmes for the benefit of the returnees," said Canon Rashid.
The CSOs involved in the returnees' reintegration programme include Mombasa Women of Faith Network, Haki Africa, and Kecosce, working under the Inter Religious Council of Kenya.
Returnees who spoke to the Nation on condition of anonymity pleaded with the government to help them start income-generating projects to prevent them from returning to terror activities.
Women of Faith Network Mombasa Coordinator Shamsa Fadhili noted that since the reform programme was initiated, criminal activities in the county had drastically gone down.
