Mogadishu, Somalia — The United Nations on Wednesday announced that 148 Somali refugees who had been living in Yemen arrived safely in Mogadishu after flying from Aden International Airport, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

The flight was part of the Assisted Spontaneous Return (ASR) programme for Somali refugees in Yemen, funded by the government of Sweden, UNHCR said in a statement posted on its account on X (formerly Twitter).

The agency said the returnees would receive additional support to help them rebuild their lives and reintegrate into their communities.

This was the third UNHCR-facilitated return flight in 2025 since the voluntary return programme resumed in October last year. Two previous groups had already been assisted -- one by air with 148 people and another by sea carrying 70 returnees.

Since the launch of the voluntary return initiative in 2017, UNHCR has helped 8,555 Somali refugees safely return home from Yemen. In 2024 alone, 1,115 refugees were assisted to return, according to the agency.

The United Nations has previously reported that Yemen hosts more than 61,000 refugees and asylum seekers, the majority of them from Somalia.