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By Mohamed Olad Hassan* [caption id="attachment_29681" align="alignleft" width="300"] omali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is greeted by children at Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya, June 6, 2016. The camp, established in the early 1990s, houses more than 300,000 displaced Somalis. (via @TheVillaSomalia)[/caption] Somalia’s president says he wants plans in place to accommodate more than 300,000 Somalis expected to come home if Kenya closes the Dadaab refugee camp. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud spoke Monday, as he became the first-ever sitting Somali leader to visit the sprawling complex in eastern Kenya, the biggest refugee camp in the world. Kenyan Interior Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, one of several Kenyan officials who welcomed Mohamud to Dadaab, affirmed his government’s decision to shut down the 25-year-old complex, despite pleas from U.N. refugee agency UNHCR and others to keep it open. “Kenya is committed to close the camp,” Nkaissery said. “It is a decision we have already reached and we will jointly collaborate with the Somali government and the UNHCR on your safe return.” Mohamud said if the refugees must come home, he wants Somalia to be ready to accommodate them. [caption id="attachment_29682" align="alignright" width="300"] FILE - Somali youngsters are seen in Dadaab refugee camp, Dadaab, Kenya, April 24, 2015. (M. Yusuf/VOA)[/caption] “Let me assure you that we (Kenya, Somalia and the UNHCR) have never discussed and agreed on your quick return to an uncertain future,” he told an audience that included camp leaders. “We do not want you to go back forcibly without services such as shelters, education, health services in place. We want you to get at least services similar to what you get here,” Mohamud said. It is unclear who would pay for or provide those services if the Somali refugees return home. ‘You can make a difference’ President Mohamud said he was grateful for Kenya's support in accommodating the refugees over such a long period, but that one day, the Somalis in the camp will all return home to help rebuild their country. “We thank Kenya for hosting a large number of our people and we will never forget it, but keep in mind that your return to your country is a sign for a revival of Somalia’s peace. You can make a difference in your country when you get back,” the president told an audience of refugees.