Over 30,000 Somali refugees to go home

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is planning to repatriate 35,000 Somali refugees from Ethiopia, starting next week.

Zobida Hassim-Ashagrie, the UNHCR representative in Ethiopia, said only those who returned voluntarily would be assisted. “Repatriation is a voluntary thing,” she told IRIN on Wednesday. “So a refugee has to say yes I want to go home. If there is any fear of persecution then they cannot go home.”

There are currently about 154,000 refugees in some nine camps in Ethiopia – mainly Sudanese, Somalis and Eritreans. Tens of thousands have fled the wars that have blighted the Horn of Africa. Last year alone, UNHCR repatriated 53,000 people.

“If you have no more conflicts then you would have no more refugees,” Zobida added. “Refugees in this region are the consequence of conflict and civil strife.”

Each repatriated refugee is given nine months' worth of food and 330 Ethiopian birr (around US $39) to start a new life. UNHCR also helps with plastic sheeting and jerry cans to carry water.

Zobida said that hosting large numbers of refugees could lead to a serious degradation of the environment which UNHCR has tried to resolve. The organisation has launched a massive tree-planting programme – planting millions of seedlings - and is also implementing water pipelines for refugees and villagers. It has also helped with projects to dam rivers to help see the refugees and locals through the dry seasons.

Most of the refugee camps in Ethiopia are found along the Somali border and in the west of the country, near Sudan.

UNHCR works alongside the Administration for Refugees and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) which implements most of UNHCR’s programmes. According to Zobida, there are some obstacles to repatriation, such as landmines in the northeast of the country where several large refugee camps are situated. This has prevented more people from returning home.

Somalis used to make up the largest number of refugees in Ethiopia, but currently there are more Sudanese refugees. UNHCR says it plans to repatriate a further 20,000 refugees next year.