A group of 76 Ethiopian refugees from Kenya's Kakuma camp are back home.

The refugees are among the first to return to Ethiopia as part of the United Nations Refugees Agency's major voluntary repatriation program for Ethiopian refugees in Kenya.

The movement is part of a growing trend of thousands of Ethiopian refugees in the region who voluntarily choose to return to back to their country.

"This is a monumental day for these returnees and for UNHCR. All refugees have the fundamental right to make an informed, voluntary choice to return to their country in safety and dignity," said UNHCR's Regional Bureau Director for the East, Horn and Great Lakes region of Africa, Clementine Nkweta-Salami.

"Nothing is more fulfilling than to assist people who have been dreaming of returning to their towns and villages to raise their children and rebuild the lives they left behind."

UNHCR provides returnees with a reintegration package in the form of cash assistance which also includes transportation allowances to ensure they can travel to their places of origin.

The majority of those returning in this first group originate from Ethiopia's Somali region and had been living in exile for up 12 years.  More than half are women and girls, with some having been born and raised in Kakuma.

More voluntary return movements from Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps are expected in the coming months.

Returns from Djibouti and Kenya are currently being prioritized with more than 4,000 Ethiopian refugees expected to voluntarily return home from Kenya this year and 500 from Djibouti.

To date, more than 10,000 Ethiopian refugees in regional and neighboring countries, have expressed to UNHCR their intention to return home, including those hosted in Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.

The surge in numbers follows recent reforms in Ethiopia which have opened the political space and are widely believed to be improving the country's respect for human rights and the quality of life for its citizens.