U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1997 - Eritrea

An estimated 342,000 Eritreans were refugees at the end of 1996, including some 340,000 in Sudan and about 2,500 in Yemen. About 1,000 refugees from Sudan were in Eritrea. Although Eritrea's 30-year war for independence from Ethiopia ended successfully in 1991, repatriation of Eritrean refugees has proceeded slowly. An estimated 180,000 have returned to Eritrea during the past six years, including some 15,000 in 1996. Pre-1996 Repatriation Following the military victory of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) over Ethiopia's forces in 1991, UNHCR anticipated that Eritrean refugees would repatriate rapidly. That did not occur, however. The Eritrean government and UNHCR disagreed on the proper timing of repatriation as well as the assistance that returnees should receive. UNHCR was eager to bring the Eritrean refugee situation to an end, while government officials expressed concern that their devastated country could not absorb hundreds of thousands of returnees without substantial international help. The Eritrean government was also concerned that the mostly Muslim returnees, many of whom have been exposed to Sudanese Islamic fundamentalism, might destabilize the government. Relations between Eritrean authorities and UNHCR deteriorated. In 1993, Eritrean officials and the UN agreed to an ambitious general repatriation plan at a projected cost of $262 million. The "Program for Refugee Reintegration and Rehabilitation of Resettlement Areas in Eritrea" (PROFERI) planned for all refugees in Sudan to return, although sources familiar with the situation predicted that a maximum of 200,000 refugees still in Sudan would actually repatriate. Some observers, including NGOs working in Eritrea, saw the expensive proposal as realistic given the level of devastation in Eritrea. International donors, however, viewed PROFERI as too costly and overly ambitious, particularly the program's plan to provide permanent new housing to all returnees. During a nine-month period of 1994-95, some 25,000 Eritreans repatriated as part of a PROFERI pilot project. Plans to continue the organized repatriation program in late 1995 stalled due to political tensions between the governments of Eritrea and Sudan on other matters. Delays in PROFERI led an estimated 140,000 Eritreans to repatriate spontaneously during 1991-95 without organized assistance. Approximately 115,000 came from Sudan. Others returned on their own from Ethiopia and Yemen, and other Middle Eastern countries. Repatriation in 1996 Deteriorating political relations between Eritrea and Sudan continued to sidetrack an organized repatriation program in 1996. The Sudanese government insisted on a new tripartite agreement to develop repatriation guidelines, while Eritrean authorities reportedly refused to engage in any diplomatic discussions with Sudanese officials. Efforts by UNHCR to break the stalemate were unsuccessful. Civil war on the Sudan side of the border complicated repatriation planning. Sudanese taxes imposed on the possessions of some returnees crossing the border also discouraged large-scale return, according to UNHCR. No organized repatriation occurred during the year. About 15,000 Eritreans returned spontaneously without assistance, including about 11,000 from Sudan, according to Eritrean officials. One third of the returnees from Sudan during the year were female-headed households. More than half of all returnees in 1996 settled in three provinces along the Sudan-Eritrea border. For the first time, the government allowed UNHCR to provide assistance to families that returned spontaneously. The assistance consisted of farming tools, clothes, kitchen utensils, and a modest grant to purchase food. The government reinstated restrictions on aid to returnees late in the year, according to UNHCR. Despite delays in the repatriation program, most observers continued to assume that large-scale repatriation would occur eventually. Nearly 90 percent of the refugees in Sudan want to repatriate, according to a survey published in 1996 by the Life and Peace Institute. About half of the refugees living near the Eritrea-Sudan border have visited Eritrea to assess conditions. More than 80 percent of the refugees surveyed said that devastation and underdevelopment in Eritrea were major constraints on their return. Although most permanent returnees have reported no problems reclaiming their land in Eritrea, many current refugees expressed concern about land availability, according to the survey. The overwhelming majority of current refugees said they had adequate information about the problem of landmines in Eritrea. UNHCR has prepared more than half of the 45 reception sites planned to receive returnees. Government officials anticipate that nearly 90 percent of the returnees would probably settle in the lowlands zone of western Eritrea – the region most destroyed by the war. Most of the remaining 10 percent would probably return to the capital, Asmara.