Ethiopia - Refugees and asylum seekers from Eritrea in Ethiopia

2017

The government of Ethiopia continues to maintain a favourable support for refugees from Eritrea for whom prima facie recognition is applied. The influx from Eritrea continues at a steady pace with a monthly average recording of approximately 2,500 arrivals. By October 2016, some 18,455 Eritrean asylum seekers arrived. The government has been amenable to the application of the Out of Camp policy towards this population group. In addition to some 57,800 Eritrean refugees in camps in the Tigray and Afar regions of Ethiopia there are some 14,000 people of concern benefitting from the Out of Camp Policy. 

The Eritrean refugee camp population is predominantly young single people, with a large number of unaccompanied minors and separated children (UASCs) among them. Eritrean refugees have limited access to basic services in the camps and are unable to become self-reliant due to inadequate livelihood opportunities. There are limited alternative care arrangements for UASCs. Many families and individuals engage in onward movement from camps and face protection risks related to smuggling and trafficking. Other protection risks are related to lack of access to domestic energy or shelter which expose refugees, particularly women and girls to SGBV, domestic violence and FGM which are prevalent.

The main achievements in relation to protection and assistance for Eritrean refugees include access to energy from the national electricity grid at two of the four camps in the Tigray region. In terms of registration, all best interest assessment (BIA) related data has been captured in the ProGres database.  

Approximately 670 UASCs were reunited with their families. In academic year 2016, UNHCR in Shire recorded 1,631 children enrolled in the early childhood care and development (ECCD) program. 7,302 students are enrolled in primary school and 568* are in secondary (* - of these 308 are locals from host community attending in refugee secondary school). Over 1,000 refugees are benefiting from the tertiary education scholarship programs in Ethiopian universities and 1,400 youths are enrolled in Youth Education Pack (YEP) programs offered at Mai-Aini, Hitsats and Adi-Harush camps. 
In Samera, 1,480 students are enrolled in primary school and 519 students are attending in ECCD and 114 in secondary school programs in 2016. Public health achievements include the construction of an inpatient ward, maternal and child health center and drug store in both camps. 12 people living with HIV are receiving anti-retroviral therapy. 346 patients were referred from refugee camps for better treatments. Through 15 condom outlets, 294,439 condoms were distributed to refugees and the host community.

Eritrean refugees in camps in have access to the national justice system, though legal aid needs to be strengthened. There is limited information available concerning access to the judicial system for some people of concern, including detainees, SGBV survivors and victims of trafficking and smuggling. Efforts will be made to integrate community based complaint mechanisms in all programmes to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse, while adopting inter-agency approach.