U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1998 - Eritrea

  Approximately 320,000 Eritreans were refugees at the end of 1997, including about 320,000 in Sudan and 2,000 in Yemen. Nearly 3,000 refugees from Somalia were in Eritrea. Six years after Eritrea's war for independence ended successfully in 1991, the repatriation of Eritrean refugees remained stalemated in 1997. Repatriation of Eritrean Refugees When Eritrea's war for independence from Ethiopia ended in 1991, most international observers anticipated that Eritrean refugees would repatriate rapidly. That did not occur. During the early 1990s, the Eritrean government and UNHCR disagreed on the proper timing of repatriation and on how much assistance returnees should receive. UNHCR was eager to end the refugee situation, while Eritrean officials said that their devastated country could not absorb hundreds of thousands of returnees without substantial international help. Eritrean authorities also warned that the mostly Muslim returnees might have adopted hard-line religious and political views in asylum that might potentially destabilize Eritrean society and create opposition to the ruling party. Political tensions between the governments of Sudan and Eritrea added still another obstruction to a coordinated repatriation program. Eritrean officials called for a process to screen refugees to determine their suitability for repatriation. The Eritrean government's ambivalence toward repatriation led to a rupture between UNHCR and Eritrean officials in 1997. The government expelled international employees of UNHCR from the country in May. A small UNHCR staff of Eritreans continued to operate, primarily to provide assistance to Somali refugees in the country. No significant repatriation occurred during 1997. An estimated 180,000 Eritreans have repatriated since 1991, including about 130,000 from Sudan. About 25,000 repatriated from Sudan during 1994-95 as part of a pilot return program. Virtually all other repatriations have occurred spontaneously, with little or no assistance. About 40,000 repatriations to Eritrea occurred in 1995, and 15,000 in 1996. Nearly 90 percent of the Eritrean refugee population in Sudan wants to repatriate, according to a survey published in 1996. 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 to their return.