Sudan Tribune
Saturday, December 14, 2013
The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday that it is planning to resettle over 3,800 refugees in Ethiopia to a third country.This follows record submissions for resettlement at the Tongo, Barahle and Bokolmanyo refugee camps, where resettlement has not not been previously conducted.
"Notable this year was the first emergency
resettlement to Sweden of a child-at-risk from Dollo Ado, as well as
submissions of several highly vulnerable women and girls out of Barahle
and Sherkole camps, including victims of female genital mutilation and
other forms of sexual and gender based violence”, said Julia Zajkowski,
the Resettlement Officer at UNHCR Office in Ethiopia.
The plan to resettle 3,800 refugees exceeds the UN refugee agency’s 2013 resettlement target by over 20%.
The
third-country resettlement operation for refugees in Ethiopia
particularly for Eritreans was begun by the Ethiopian government in 2006
in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration
(IOM) and UNHCR.
Since the program began, thousands of refugees
have been resettled in western countries such as to Norway, Canada, and
Switzerland Australia and to the United States where they have begun new
lives.
Zajkowski said UNHCR will continue to conduct the third
country resettlement operation for the most vulnerable refugees,
including single women and mothers, children at risk and to victims of torture.
Due to conflicts and political instability thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries cross into Ethiopia every month.
The
influx is highest from Eritrea, where people are fleeing from forced
conscription and open-ended military service, as well as in protest
against political repression.
UNHCR says voluntary repatriation is
often not an option due to safety concerns. Therefore resettlement to a
third country is often the only appropriate solution, particularly for Eritrean refugees, as it allows them to safely start a new life.
According
to UNHCR report, Ethiopia received over 5,000 new refugees over the
last two months, bringing the total number of refugees in the Horn of Africa nation to over 427,000.
The new arrivals came from Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.
Currently
there are 240,000 Somalis, 81,000 Eritreans and 70,000 South Sudanese
in Ethiopia. The remaining over 36,000 are from Kenya, Sudan and other
east African countries.