June 22, 2013 (ADDIS ABABA) – Eritrean refugees crossing to
neighbouring Ethiopia are on the rise, while the number entering Sudan
has dropped compared to the previous year, according to the United
Nation Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Eritrean refugees
flee to Ethiopia in larger numbers via 16 entry points where they get
primary assistance and provided with temporary shelters before they are
transferred to one of the many refugee camps in the country’s two
bordering regions, Tigrai and Afar.
Since January, the UNHCR and
the government’s refugee agency, the Administration for Refugee and
Returnee Affairs (ARRA), have registered over 4,000 Eritrean refugees.
Currently
Ethiopia hosts a record high nearly 72,000 Eritrean refugees in four
camps in the northern Tigrai region and two others in the Afar region in
north-eastern Ethiopia.
Kisut Gebregzabiher, UNHCR’s public
information officer in Addis Ababa, said the number of Eritrean refugees
arriving to Easte
rn Sudan has declined this year, however, he said that
there has been a large number of children and young Eritreans arriving
on their own in Sudan.
The influx has dropped to an average 500
per month this year from 2,000 a month in 2012, Kisut said. Sudan
currently shelters a least 114,500 Eritrean refugees.
Djibouti, also receives around 110 Eritreans each month.
Eritreans
flee their home country in protest to political oppression and to
escape indefinite military service which is mandatory to both men and
women aged between 18 and 45.
As the numbers of arrivals continue
to rise, the UNHCR was forced to open a new refugee camp in northern
Ethiopia’s Tigrai region, Kisut told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.
The
new camp, known as Hitsats, has a capacity of 20,000. After it was
opened this week, the UN refugee agency has already transferred nearly
1,000 refugees to the new camp.
The Ethiopian government has also set up a temporary medical clinic and reception facilities for new arrivals.
http://www.sudantribune.com/
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