UNHCR to resume Somali refugee repatriation

After more than a decade in Ethiopia, Somali refugees in the eastern camp of Rabasso are preparing to return to their homes in northwestern Somalia, a spokesman for UNHCR told IRIN Thursday. The news that UNHCR is about to resume an operation to complete the voluntary repatriation of a further 43,800 Somali refugees before the end of the year follows the announcement of the first contribution to the operation from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO). In June, UNHCR closed camps at Teferi Ber and Derwanaje, after completing the repatriation of just over 26,000 refugees.

In a statement released on Wednesday in Addis Ababa, UNHCR said the donation of 1.5 million euros (about US $1.3 million) from ECHO would be used to promote the repatriation of Somali refugees to safe areas in northwestern Somalia and to assist the dispersal of Ethiopian nationals of ethnic Somali origin who had come to rely on the relatively better health care, education, employment and trade opportunities available in the refugee camps. UNHCR Public Information Officer Mahari Maasho told IRIN that the ECHO funding would be used to help finance the cost of personnel needed to manage the repatriation operation, as well as to contract local buses and trucks to provide transport for the refugees back to their home villages.

ECHO funds would also be used to provide a food allowance during the trip home. The UN World Food Programme was providing a nine-month allowance of food as part of the overall reintegration package, Mahari said.

The number of Somali refugees in Ethiopia peaked at just under 300,000 in the late 1990s. The first major influx occurred in 1988 when civil war broke out in northwestern Somalia. Further waves followed the fall of the Siyad Barre regime in 1991, and in 1994 when fighting erupted in parts of the self-declared independent state of Somaliland.

Since the inception of the voluntary repatriation programme in November 1997, UNHCR have assisted 167,000 Somali refugees to return to their homes. Despite a severe shortage of funds, the programme continued this year, with a focus on refugees of the Gadabursi clan living in Teferi Ber and Derwanaje camps. Following the closure of these camps in June, attention has now switched to Rabasso camp, from where the first convoy of homeward bound refugees is scheduled to leave before the end of July, Mahari told IRIN. Later, refugees from Aysha and Daror camps will also be included in the operation, with Daror scheduled to close in December. UNHCR estimates that by the end of the year there will be some 50,000 refugees left in eastern Ethiopia, of whom 35,000 are expected to be repatriated to northwestern Somalia by the end of 2002. The remaining 15,000, mostly from southern Somalia, will be provided with continuing care and maintenance.

Returnees are provided with a reintegration package consisting of a nine-month food ration, plastic sheeting for roofing, jerrycans and blankets as well as transport to border transit centres and a cash grant to enable them to travel onward to their places of origin. Though not a direct responsibility of UNHCR, the organisation continues to facilitate programmes to help the refugees settle back into their home villages.

However, these reintegration efforts are hampered by a serious shortfall in funding. Programmes to help former refugees and local populations recover their independence and self-sufficiency were seen as an essential component of the repatriation effort, and UNHCR was actively lobbying donors to support these efforts, Mahari told IRIN. “Water supplies, health services, village schools are all needed by the refugees when they go home,” he said. “People want farm tools, and land has to be cleared of land mines. If we cannot meet these basic needs, then the problem of refugees in this region will be with us for another decade.”