Ethiopian students who fled to Djibouti seeking asylum have been treated properly, the office of the UNHCR in Djibouti told IRIN. The students had earlier claimed they had been told that the office in Djibouti was for Francophone refugees, and that they should go to Kenya, the Ethiopian independent newspaper ‘Addis Tribune’, reported on 20 July.
The UNHCR representative in Djibouti, Tadesse Abebe, told IRIN that UNHCR had helped about 40 university students, who came into Djibouti last month. “They have been treated properly. All 40 have been given asylum, and we are providing them with food and shelter,” Abebe said. The students had not, however, been granted refugee status, which is the province of states and not UNHCR. In the case of Djibouti, it was the Organisation of National Affairs for Refugees, which decided who was a genuine refugee and who was not, he explained.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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