Camp walkout by Sudanese refugees

Thousands of Sudanese refugees staged a mass walkout from an Ethiopian-based refugee camp after learning of a visit by a high-level Khartoum government delegation, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Monday. The protest occurred after the delegation flew in from North Sudan to inspect two refugee camps. Some 10,000 refugees at Sherkole camp on the border with Sudan packed up and left after the visit was reportedly given the go-ahead by the Ethiopian government. The incident occurred in August, but has only just been reported. Tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees have poured into Ethiopia in the last two decades fleeing the civil war between the north and the south, most of them from war-torn south Sudan. The sources told IRIN that the visit inflamed already heightened tensions between northern and southern Sudanese refugees at the camps. They said some northern refugees – who total around 170 - were attacked and sought safety in a UN compound in the town of Assosa. Relations between Ethiopia and Sudan have thawed recently with mutual visits by both heads of state, keen to build business opportunities. The Khartoum delegation, including Sudan’s refugee commissioner Dr Muhammad Ahmad Al-Aghbash, was expected to spend two days at both camps, meeting officials. However, the visit to Sherkole was cancelled after the delegation arrived in neighbouring Gambella region because of bad weather. A visit to a second camp, Bonga, in Gambella and home to 13,000 refugees, was then cancelled because of security concerns. The delegation then returned to Addis Ababa before flying back to Khartoum. Sudan’s official news agency SUNA said the visit was aimed at “inspecting the process for [voluntary] repatriation”. The Ethiopian government - through its refugee arm ARRA (Administration for Refugees and Returnees Affairs) is in charge of refugees in the country, while UNHCR assists and is on hand to ensure refugee rights are protected. Peter Okoye, deputy head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Ethiopia, told IRIN: “UNHCR is here to protect the rights of refugees as well as to seek durable solutions." “UNHCR will fully support the voluntary repatriation of refugees when conditions are considered normal in the country of origin and when the situation that led to their leaving their country is normalised,” he said.