Ethiopia: transfer of Eritreans to safer camp begins
Briefing Notes, 28 May 2004
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 28 May 2004, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR has started transferring Eritrean refugees from a makeshift camp in Ethiopia, where they have lived for four years, to a safer camp further inside the country where we can provide better assistance. This week, we moved the first 2,400 refugees from the Wa'la Nhibi site to a new camp at Shimelba. In total, we plan to move all 7,466 Eritreans from the makeshift camp.
UNHCR is spending $800,000 US$ on the move and on the new camp, where we are developing water supplies, shelter, health centres and schools. Eritrean asylum-seekers continue to arrive in Ethiopia at the rate of 250 per month, and we expect the population of Shimelba to climb to 9,000.
The Eritreans fled to northern Ethiopia after a border war broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia in May 2000. The site where they chose to settle, Wa'la Nhibi in the Tigray Region, is not far from Badme, a flashpoint in the confrontation between the two countries.
The new camp is safer as it is some 50 kilometres from the border, as required by UNHCR rules and international agreements.
On an unrelated matter, we have also begun registering Sudanese refugees at Bamboudie camp in Ethiopia as the first step towards their possible return home if a comprehensive final peace accord is signed to end the 21-year-long civil war in South Sudan.
Tens of thousands of Somalis are fleeing conflict and drought into Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.
New arrivals in Ethiopia: Remote Dolo Ado becomes a safe haven for 10,000 Somalis fleeing violence
Since the beginning of this year an estimated 10,000 Somalis have crossed the border and sought shelter in Dolo Ado, a remote, sun-scorched and predominantly Somali corner of south-east Ethiopia. Most have fled insecurity, following the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from south and central Somalia and the takeover of these areas by insurgent elements. At the peak of the influx in early February 2009, about 150 people were crossing the border each day.
In reponse, a UNHCR emergency team was sent to help run a transit centre in Dolo Ado. In addition, UNHCR dispatched convoys carrying emergency aid, including mosquito nets, blankets, jerry cans, kitchen sets and plastic sheets. Relief efforts are being coordinated with other UN agencies and NGOs to ensure needs are being met.
Although a number of displaced Somalis within south and central Somalia have started to return, mainly to Mogadishu, many Somalis remain in Dolo Ado in need of protection. Given the poor prospects for repatriation in the foreseeable future, a camp is now under development and refugees are being screened.
New arrivals in Ethiopia: Remote Dolo Ado becomes a safe haven for 10,000 Somalis fleeing violence
Crossing the Gulf of Aden
Every year thousands of people in the Horn of Africa - mainly Somalis and Ethiopians - leave their homes out of fear or pure despair, in search of safety or a better life. They make their way over dangerous Somali roads to Bossaso in the northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
In this lawless area, smuggler networks have free reign and innocent and desperate civilians pay up to US$150 to make the perilous trip across the Gulf of Aden.
Some stay weeks on end in safe houses or temporary homes in Bossaso before they can depart. A sudden call and a departure in the middle of the night, crammed in small unstable boats. At sea, anything can happen to them - they are at the whim of smugglers. Some people get beaten, stabbed, killed and thrown overboard. Others drown before arriving on the beaches of Yemen, which have become the burial ground for hundreds who many of those who died en route.
Crossing the Gulf of Aden
New Arrivals in Yemen
During one six-day period at the end of March, more than 1,100 Somalis and Ethiopians arrived on the shores of Yemen after crossing the Gulf of Aden on smuggler's boats from Bosaso, Somalia. At least 28 people died during these recent voyages – from asphyxiation, beating or drowning – and many were badly injured by the smugglers. Others suffered skin problems as a result of prolonged contact with sea water, human waste, diesel oil and other chemicals.
During a recent visit to Yemen, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Erika Feller pledged to further raise the profile of the situation, to appeal for additional funding and international action to help Yemen, and to develop projects that will improve the living conditions and self sufficiency of the refugees in Yemen.
Since January 2006, Yemen has received nearly 30,000 people from Somalia, Ethiopia and other places, while more than 500 people have died during the sea crossing and at least 300 remain missing. UNHCR provides assistance, care and housing to more than 100,000 refugees already in Yemen.
New Arrivals in Yemen
Ethiopia: Arriving in Assosa
Zeneib was living in her husband's village in Sudan's Blue Nile state when it was attacked. She lost three brothers and then endured tremendous hardship on the journey to Ethiopia with her children.
Sudan: A Perilous Route
Kassala camp in eastern Sudan provides shelter to thousands of refugees from Eritrea. Many of them pass through the hands of ruthless and dangerous smugglers.
Somalia: Fleeing Famine
Tukaay is one of the nearly 1.5 million internally displaced Somalis struggling with drought and conflict.
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