U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 2003 - Ethiopia

Ethiopia hosted nearly 115,000 refugees at the end of 2002, including more than 90,000 from Sudan, about 20,000 from Somalia, and nearly 5,000 from Eritrea.

More than 20,000 Ethiopians were refugees or asylum seekers at the end of 2002, including more than 10,000 in Kenya, some 2,000 in Sudan, nearly 2,000 in Djibouti, more than 1,000 in Yemen, and an estimated 6,000 Ethiopian asylum applicants in Europe and the United States. Approximately 10,000 Ethiopians lived in refugee-like circumstances in Sudan.

An estimated 90,000 Ethiopians were internally displaced at year's end.

Uprooted Ethiopians

Ethnic violence drove an estimated 15,000 Ethiopians from their homes during 2002. Nearly all newly uprooted populations remained in the country, and most returned home by the end the year.

Approximately 90,000 Ethiopians remained internally displaced at year's end, including about 75,000 still uprooted as a result of Ethiopia's 1998–2000 border war with Eritrea.

Increased tensions over lack of food and disputes over scarce water resources erupted into violent clashes between rival ethnic groups that left dozens of people dead in Afar and Oromiya States during the year.

In July, Ethiopian authorities provided financial compensation to approximately 18,000 internally displaced persons to vacate some 10 camps near Addis Ababa, the capital, many of which authorities later leveled.

Most of the displaced families quickly spent the compensation money provided by authorities and had no alternative but to return to the camps that remained or resettle in new locations.

Demonstrations over the results of local elections spiraled into bloodshed between Ethiopian security forces and ethnic Sheko and ethnic Mezehenger populations in the southwestern Ethiopian town of Tepi during March–April.

The violence killed more than 150 civilians, uprooted nearly 5,000 others, and destroyed some 1,000 homes.

An additional 10,000 persons fled their homes in Gambella State, in western Ethiopia, during clashes between rival ethnic Nuer and Agnuak populations that left more than 60 people dead in July.

About 75,000 of the approximately 300,000 persons who had been uprooted during the border war with Eritrea remained internally displaced in northern Ethiopia's Tigray and Afar regions at the end of 2002.

Although security in Tigray and Afar improved considerably during the year, most displaced people could not return home because pervasive landmines severely limited access to farm and pasture land. Damaged health clinics and water systems also presented risks to many war-displaced Ethiopians wanting to return home, particularly children.

The war-displaced population, including demobilized soldiers and Ethiopian nationals deported from Eritrea, received limited water, shelter, and health and education services from international humanitarian agencies. They struggled to survive on monthly food rations provided by the World Food Program (WFP).

"The war displaced are already at great risk as one of the most vulnerable groups in Ethiopia, and are in need of longer-term initiatives to improve their situation," a UN report concluded in October.

Repatriation of Ethiopian Refugees

Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians fled their country during the 1974–91 reign of military dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. In 1991, a rebel group deposed Mengistu, triggering massive repatriation of Ethiopian refugees.

An estimated 800,000 or more Ethiopian refugees have voluntarily repatriated from Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and other countries during the past decade.

In September 1999, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) declared that a "fundamental and durable change" had taken place in Ethiopia with the end of the Mengistu regime, and that most Ethiopian refugees who fled their country prior to 1991 no longer had a "valid fear of persecution."

The UNHCR declaration, which became official in March 2000, effectively withdrew automatic refugee status for Ethiopians who had fled the country before 1991. Refugees who claimed to have "compelling reasons" for not wanting to return to Ethiopia were required to submit to individual screening interviews in asylum countries to determine their legal status.

During 2001, more than 10,000 pre-1991 Ethiopian refugees voluntarily repatriated from Sudan to northwestern Ethiopia. Fewer than 200 pre-1991 Ethiopian refugees repatriated with UNHCR assistance during 2002.

It is unlikely that significant numbers of pre-1991 Ethiopian refugees will repatriate in the future, according to UNHCR.

Several hundred persons of Ethiopian descent who had lived and worked in Eritrea for many years voluntarily returned to Ethiopia during 2002. Several hundred Ethiopian prisoners of war and civilian detainees, released by Eritrean authorities during the year, also returned home.

Nearly all returnees received transportation and border-crossing assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Refugees from Sudan Civil war in Sudan has pushed waves of refugees into Ethiopia since the 1980s.

The Sudanese refugee population in Ethiopia peaked at more than 300,000 in 1991. Although the population subsequently declined, new refugee influxes have continued.

About 7,000 new refugees fled from Sudan to western Ethiopia during 2002, bringing the number of Sudanese in Ethiopia at year's end to more than 90,000.

The refugees lived in four long-established camps and a newly created camp, Yarenja, in western Ethiopia. The largest site, Fugnido, housed nearly 32,000 people, primarily ethnic Nuer. More than 17,000 additional ethnic Nuer refugees lived in Dimma camp.

Some 17,000 ethnic Uduk refugees lived in Bonga camp, while about 16,000 ethnically mixed refugees resided at Sherkole camp. Of the more than 12,000 Sudanese refugees who fled the Blue Nile and Upper Nile regions of southern Sudan during 2001, UNHCR relocated about 4,000 to Yarenja camp during 2002, while more than 8,000 remained in a nearby settlement on the outskirts of the town of Bamboudi, in western Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz State.

A wave of ethnic clashes in two Sudanese refugee camps left more than 100 refugees dead, several dozen injured, and temporarily displaced several hundred refugees during 2002. Abductions of refugees and asylum seekers by unknown assailants also occurred during the year.

In the worst of the violence, clashes between Anuak and Dinka refugees armed with grenades, handguns, and spears in Fugnido camp killed 40 refugees, left several others injured, and orphaned more than 45 children.

A dispute over control of the camp's minority refugee committee fueled the violence and forced several hundred refugees to flee to surrounding villages. Poor security prohibited UNHCR and governmental authorities from visiting Fugnido for several weeks.

In July, a female Nuer refugee was murdered in Bonga camp. Some 30 Sudanese refugees were allegedly abducted while traveling by bus to Fugnido camp in late July and remained missing at year's end.

Six refugees were killed and several others wounded during clashes between ethnic Anuak and Nuer refugees in Fugnido camp in August.

During late August 2002, some 10,000 Sudanese walked out of Sherkole camp in protest of a planned visit by a high-level Sudanese government delegation to "inspect the process for repatriation." Ethiopian authorities approved the visit despite UNHCR's opposition.

The incident inflamed existing tensions between northern and southern Sudanese refugees residing in Sherkole. Although most refugees eventually returned to Sherkole, nearly 200 remained camped around UNHCR's Sherkole office at year's end, insisting their lives were in danger.

In several camps, Sudanese refugee women – the majority of camp residents – were responsible for 90 percent of the food distribution, crowd control, and guard services.

Refugee women also benefited from UNHCR-administered skills training and income-generation programs, including tailoring and bee-keeping.

Many refugee women and men participated in environmental programs, including activities to address environmental degradation in and around the camps. Sudanese refugees raised and transplanted some 1.8 million tree seedlings during the year.

Although many refugees had supported themselves as farmers in Sudan, Ethiopian authorities refused to make more agricultural land available to the refugee population, limiting their opportunities to become self-sufficient.

UNHCR and the Ethiopian government's Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs, however, did provide seeds and farming tools to selected Sudanese families.

In Bonga camp, some Uduk refugees moved beyond camp boundaries and cultivated with the local population. In Fugnido camp, drought adversely affected refugees' crop yields. Selected Sudanese families received chickens and cattle for income-generation purposes, but earned negligible profits during the year, according to UNHCR.

Refugees from Somalia

Somali refugees fled to Ethiopia during the early- and mid-1990s to escape civil war. Nearly 90 percent of all Somali refugees living in Ethiopia originated from northwest Somalia, known as "Somaliland."

An estimated 20,000 or fewer refugees remained in three long-established camps in eastern Ethiopia at the end of 2002. UNHCR provided nutrition, health, and education services to camp residents and distributed more than 2,000 fuel-efficient stoves.

Aid workers distributed sanitary supplies to refugee women and girls. WFP provided monthly food rations.

An estimated 10,000 Somalis repatriated from Ethiopia during 2002, primarily to Somaliland. UNHCR officially reported that nearly 30,000 Somalis repatriated, but that number was greatly inflated as a result of massive fraud in eastern Ethiopia's refugee program.

In January, UNHCR closed Daror camp, the southernmost Somali refugee camp in Ethiopia's Ogaden Desert, after transferring several hundred remaining refugees to nearby Rabasso camp.

In August, UNHCR closed Rabasso camp after helping nearly 4,000 Somalis repatriate. In November, UNHCR closed Camaboker camp after the final 1,000 Somali refugees returned home from that site.

Refugees preparing to return home received plastic sheeting, blankets, water containers, kitchen utensils, and used clothing before their departure.

They also received a reintegration grant equivalent to $40 from UNHCR and a nine-month food supply from WFP.

Unknown thousands of additional Somali refugees continued to live outside established camps in urban and rural areas of Ethiopia.

Refugees from Eritrea

More than 5,000 Eritrean refugees remained in Ethiopia at year's end. Most were ethnic Kunama who fled to Ethiopia in May 2000 because of warfare and discrimination in Eritrea.

An additional 1,000 Eritrean refugees – mainly non-Kunama – arrived in Ethiopia during 2002.

Nearly all Eritrean refugees resided in Wa'ala Nhibi, a remote temporary site near the town of Shiraro, in northern Tigray Region. UNHCR maintained limited water, sanitation, and health care facilities there.

As in previous years, UNHCR and donor nations frequently voiced concern over the site's proximity to Ethiopia's border with Eritrea and the prevalence of landmines.

For a second consecutive year, however, Ethiopian authorities rejected UNHCR's plans to establish a new, safer camp to accommodate the Eritrean population.