Khartoum calls for more assistance for refugees

Sudanese envoy Ilham Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed on Wednesday introduced a draft resolution to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) of the UN General Assembly calling for the assembly to urge the UN refugee agency and all other concerned bodies to mobilise adequate resources to meet the needs and interests of unaccompanied refugee minors. Last week, Ahmed expressed concern at the United Nations about the burden of refugees on host countries like Sudan, and asked that the international community give more help in sharing the burden amid signs that refugee assistance was dropping in Sudan. For the past three years, Ahmed told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) of the UN General Assembly on 19 November, Sudan had hosted refugee flows "with all goodwill and without hesitation, in spite of the social and environmental consequences". Refugees flows to Sudan in that period were mostly from Eritrea, peaking during renewed fighting in the Ethiopia-Eritrea in May/June 2000, when approximately 95,000 Eritreans fled to Sudan, mostly to Kassala State in the east. As fighting ended and conditions became conducive to return, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) facilitated the return of some 30,000 new Eritrean refugees, while over 45,000 more returned spontaneously. Khartoum estimates that there are approximately 16,000 of this new group of Eritrean refugees remaining in Sudan. Eritreans, both from prior conflict with Ethiopia and the fighting in 2000, make up the bulk of refugees in Sudan. There are some 160,000 registered Eritrean refugees being assisted by the UN refugee agency, while the government estimates that there are another 230,000 refugees - mainly a mixed population of Ethiopians and Eritreans - living in cities and towns. UNHCR's intention is to continue to facilitate large-scale repatriation of Eritrean refugees (which resumed in October, when the cessation of rains allowed for transport arrangements) during the remainder of 2001 and throughout 2002. Sudan has followed its international agreements in hosting refugees, and hoped for their safe return to their countries of origin soon, according to Ahmed. The country was concerned, however, that Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries [presumably Uganda] were being exploited and forced to partake in armed conflicts, she said. Many of those refugees were children, and UNHCR should help protect them, she added. Sudan sheltered many refugees and had always dealt with the issue outside of refugee camps, according to Ahmed. Were there specific plans from the UNHCR to evaluate the needs of refugees outside of refugee camps? she asked. Ahmed also asked if the agency had contingency plans for emergency situations where an unexpected and massive influx came into a country very quickly, as happened in eastern Sudan, from Eritrea, in May/June 2000. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers said there were important differences between all countries hosting refugees, and that the agency was looking at how best it could help states protect and integrate refugees in their societies. Refugees outside of refugee camps needed to have a distinction made and the situation had to be examined on a country-by-country basis, Lubber said. Regarding new massive refugee flows, it was UNHCR's mission to prepare for these emergency situations, he added. Ahmed said her government needed to be helped in areas that were hardest hard hit by the influx of refugees, in particular concerning their effect on Sudan's natural resources. UNHCR was aware that environmental issues can be problematic in refugee-hosting environments, but the agency had many projects (including seed distribution, afforestation, water and sanitation activities) that helped local populations and the environment as well as refugee populations, regional spokesman Paul Stromberg told IRIN. The refugee agency was always conscious that rehabilitation work would also have to be done in refugee-hosting areas once those refugee populations have left, and that would be addressed at the appropriate time, he added. Meanwhile, Ahmed assured the UN: "Sudan would continue to make resources available to all refugees in Sudan; they will receive everything they needed to live in an atmosphere of peace and dignity."