Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: October 3 (EI) — The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, on Thursday expressed its ken interest to assist the voluntary repatriation of Ethiopian refugees based in Kenyan refugee camps.
Fathiaa Abdalla, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Kenya, during her meeting with the Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya, Meles Alem, said that UNHCR is keen to assist the voluntary repatriation of Ethiopian refugees from Kenyan refugee camps to their home country, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Abdalla, who noted that some of the Ethiopian refugees who are currently staying in Kenya’s two major refugee camps that are Kakuma and Dadaab are willing to return back to their country, also stressed the UNHCR’s readiness to work in partnership with the Ethiopian Embassy in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, towards the success of the voluntary repatriation of Ethiopian refugees from Kenya.
Ethiopian refugees presently represent about 5.9 percent of the total refugee population in Kenya, which is said to be 476,695 as at the end of May this year, according to figures from the UNHCR.
Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps currently host majority of Ethiopian refugees that left their country over the past years due to political and humanitarian challenges, it was noted.
According to figures from the UN refugee agency, almost half of the refugees in Kenya reside in Dadaab, which presently hosts 44 percent of the total refugee population in Kenya, while some 40 percent of the refugees reside in Kakuma.
The Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya, Meles Alem, who noted that the Ethiopian government pays special attention to the welfare of its citizens at home and abroad, also stressed that tens of thousands of Ethiopians are returning back home following the ongoing national reconciliation and comprehensive reform process in Ethiopia.
Meles also stressed that Ethiopia, which has a long history of welcoming refugees from neighboring countries, is presently hosting more than 1 million refugees from who were displaced from neighboring countries.
He also emphasized the Ethiopian government’s keen interest to work in partnership with the UN refugee agency in protecting the rights of refugees and displaced people.
Kenya, lying on the southern border of Ethiopia, is a major transit nation for Ethiopian migrants that pursue the southern migration route, hoping to reach Africa’s leading economy South Africa.
The number of Ethiopian nationals who are seeking refuge in Kenya is, however, much less as compared to refugees from other neighboring countries. According to UNHCR, the refugee operation in Kenya is mainly marked by the political developments and humanitarian situation in the region, mainly in its two main refugee producing countries that are Somalia and South Sudan.
Majority of refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya originate from Somalia, amounting 54.5 percent. Other major nationalities are South Sudanese, accounting 24.4 percent, and Congolese that accounts about 8.8 percent of the total refugee population in the country, according to UNHCR.
Persons of concern from other nationalities including Sudan, Rwanda, Eritrea, Burundi, Uganda and others make up 6.4 percent of the total population.
