Eritrean ethnic Kunamas may retain refugee status

Several thousand Eritrean ethnic Kunamas who sought refuge in Ethiopia during the 1998-2000 border war may be exempted from a UN ruling ending refugee status for Eritreans living in exile, UN sources have told IRIN. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will on 31 December 2002 officially end the refugee status of Eritreans then still outside their country of origin. There are some 4,400 Kunama refugees in Ethiopia, currently housed in Wa’ala Nihibi camp in Tigray Regional State, northern Ethiopia, close to the border with Eritrea. The UNHCR is assessing their situation, and is expected to make an announcement in this regard before the end of the year. The UNHCR decided to withdraw refugee status for Eritreans, because, it said, they were no longer at risk from the state war which had blighted their country for more than 30 years. Despite cancelling refugee status for Eritreans, the UNHCR has made it clear that it will continue to assess the claims of individuals coming forward to seek continued asylum beyond 2002.