UNHCR launches last phase of Somali repatriation from Djibouti
The UN refugee agency on Tuesday began the final phase of its voluntary repatriation programme to help some 1,800 refugees return home to Somaliland from neighbouring Djibouti by the end of the year.
LOYADO, Djibouti, November 20 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency on Tuesday began the final phase of its voluntary repatriation programme to help some 1,800 refugees return home to Somaliland from neighbouring Djibouti by the end of the year.
A convoy of 13 UNHCR-hired trucks carrying 210 Somaliland refugees set off early Tuesday from Djibouti's Ali Addeh camp and headed the 130 kilometres to the Loyado crossing point on the border with Somaliland, a de facto republic within the internationally recognized borders of Somalia.
"This is the final leg of what has been a long exile for many of the Somaliland refugees in Djibouti and we are happy that we are able to help refugees close this chapter of their lives in exile," Ann Encontre, UNHCR's representative in Djibouti, said at Loyado. She added that the repatriation operation, which began in July 2002, would be wrapped up next month.
The 1,800 refugees are one of the last groups of Somaliland refugees living in Djibouti. Many of the returnees fled to Djibouti more than 16 years ago after the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 and ensuing civil war in Somalia.
The return programme from Djibouti to Somaliland was suspended in March last year to allow for the electronic registration of all refugees in Djibouti. When the suspension took place, the UNHCR operation had helped some 19,400 Somali refugees return home.
Encontre said that once UNHCR officials had completed immigration formalities at the border, the convoy would head to a transit centre in Zeila town, located some 27 kms from the border in Somaliland's Awdal region. "When we arrived at the border, some of them got off the trucks and knelt down to say their prayers," the UNHCR official noted.
Returnees will receive a return package before continuing their journey Wednesday to their homes. As part of the return package, each returnee will be given the first of three instalments of a nine-month food package provided by the UN World Food Programme. The food package is designed to support returnees during the initial months of their re-integration.
UNHCR will provide some household goods to families, including kitchen sets, blankets, sleeping mats, jerry cans and plastic sheeting for shelters. In addition, returnees will receive some cash to help them pay for transportation from the various drop-off points, mainly in towns, to their home villages.
The majority of the refugees in Djibouti will return to the Awdal Region, where UNHCR and other partners have set up a wide variety of reintegration projects ranging from water, education, income generation, road infrastructure, health and security. These projects have already supported the integration of thousands of returnees from Djibouti and Ethiopia.
"We will work with the authorities to find alternative solutions to refugees from Somaliland who opt to remain in Djibouti," Encontre said of an estimated 1,000 refugees who have not yet registered for return to Somaliland and are likely to remain in Djibouti when the repatriation operation ends.
Since July 2002, the UN refugee agency has been promoting repatriation to Somaliland. UNHCR-sponsored "go-and-see" visits allowed refugees to assess for themselves conditions back home, and spread the word around the Djibouti camps.
Between February 1997 and March 2006, an estimated 300,000 Somaliland refugees have returned home from Ethiopia and Djibouti using their own means as well as through UNHCR's assisted voluntary repatriation.
Djibouti currently hosts nearly 7,000 refugees, mainly living in the Ali Addeh camp. Some 2,800 of these refugees are from Somaliland while more than 3,500 others are from south and central Somalia. There are also small numbers of refugees from Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Encontre said her office continues to report a small but steady influx of Somali refugees fleeing the conflict in south and central Somalia. In the past two months, some 250 refugees have sought asylum in this Horn of Africa country.
Related news and stories
Thousands of newly arrived Somali refugees in Ethiopia relocated to new settlement
Samira's Story
Drought brings life-threatening food shortages for refugees in Ethiopia
100,000 new Somali refugees arrive in Ethiopia in the past month, UN and partners are calling for urgent funding
UNHCR teams and partners rush assistance to some 100,000 newly arrived Somali refugees in hard-to-reach area of Ethiopia
As the Horn of Africa drought enters a sixth failed rainy season, UNHCR calls for urgent assistance
Your search for « somaliland » matched 428 results. Displaying page 10 of 48 pages.
-
UNHCR Global Report 2005 - Ethiopia
1 Jun 2006 ... after over 4,100 Somali refugees returned to Somaliland and some 1,800 Ethiopian individuals of ... The camp was closed in June 2005 after refugees went back to Somalia. UNHCR / B. Heger Somaliland ...... -
UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2002 - Somalia
1 Aug 2001 ... declared independence from the rest of Somalia and proclaimed itself the "Republic of Somaliland". ... Security Situation The security situation is relatively stable in "Somaliland" and "Puntland", which ...... -
Mixed Migration Task Force: Somalia Mixed Migration Through Somalia and Across the Gulf of Aden
1 Apr 2008 ... ... Study, 2002 4 5 2.1 Route 1: Ethiopia – Somaliland – Puntland – Yemen This route is mostly ... as they travel from hubs in Ethiopia, across the border into Somaliland and onwards towards Bossaso. ...... -
UNHCR Somalia Briefing Sheet, July 2010
Jul 2010 ... Somalia is a country divided in three regions: Somaliland (a self-proclaimed Independent state, not ... UNHCR’s refugee operation is focused in the regions of Somaliland and Puntland, with the ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2004 - Ethiopia
1 Jun 2005 ... Ethiopia Main objectives S earch for durable solutions through voluntary repatriation of 20,000 Somali, 750 Eritrean and 30,000 Sudanese refugees in camps; seek solutions for urban refugees of various ...... -
Somalia: nearly 5,000 return this week from Ethiopia
24 Aug 2001 ... tomorrow (Aug. 25) for Hargeisa - the drop-off point in north-west Somalia, also called Somaliland. ... From the border, the refugees board other trucks to Hargeisa, Somaliland's main town, before ...... -
UNHCR starts return convoys from Ethiopian camp
26 May 2004 ... convoy took 970 refugees home to the Awdal area of north-western Somalia, also called Somaliland. ... with similar projects initiated by a host of partner agencies, but Somaliland's needs are huge. ...... -
Refugees arrive back in Somalia as agencies seek fresh aid
1 Mar 2004 ... Some 220 Somali refugees returned from Djibouti to the self-declared republic of Somaliland in the ... They were met at the Loyada border crossing by authorities from Somaliland's Ministry of ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2010 - Somalia
20 Jun 2011 ... ... The situation has remained calmer in Somaliland, where a new government has shown interest in ... advocacy for the respect of the principle of non-refoulement was pursued in Puntland and Somaliland. ......