UNHCR, gov't pledge to track down refugee camp killers

The Ethiopian government and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) pledged on Tuesday to bring to justice the perpetrators of a massacre of Sudanese refugees. In a statement released after the killings at Fugnido refugee camp at Gambella in western Ethiopia, they agreed to set up a joint body aimed at bringing the guilty to book. The move came after the death toll from the shooting rose to 41. Violence flared on 27 November at the camp when gunmen from the minority Anuak tribe reportedly attacked a group of Dinka refugees, killing 33 and leaving nine wounded. “The UN refugee agency's representative for Ethiopia met with his counterpart from the government's Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) immediately once reports of the massacre reached Addis Ababa," UNHCR said in a statement. “They agreed to set up a joint government/UNHCR body to help ensure that the perpetrators of Wednesday's [27 November] massacre are brought to justice." “They also agreed to initiate reconciliation initiatives involving both the refugees and the host population, as well as non-governmental organisations, the army and police,” the statement said. UNHCR blamed “long simmering” tensions at the remote camp which borders Sudan. It said the camp is unfenced and weapons are readily available – many from across the border where the civil war has raged in Sudan for the last two decades. “The refugees' affiliations with various factions of the anti-Khartoum Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) are said to be fuelling the dispute,” UNHCR said. It also said tribal violence was mirroring political tension in the region and that grazing rights had also fuelled the trouble. “Prior to Wednesday's massacre, Ethiopia's federal government had invited Ethiopian representatives of the four ethnically-tied political parties present in the area to Addis Ababa for peace and reconciliation talks in an effort to quell tensions in the region,” the statement added. See also: 'Ethiopia: 33 killed in refugee camp violence' Full Report