UN relocates refugees to Ethiopia

  1. Posted on Wednesday 17 February 2010 - 10:50
    Muhyadin
    Muhyadin Ahmed Roble, AfricaNews reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
    The Ethiopian government and United Nations refugee agency have built a new refugee camp for thousands of Somali refugees from the war-torn nation, Somalia. The UNHCR said the new camp at Melkadida over 60 km away from border with Somalia will be a settlement for refugees from Dolo Ado. The camp has capacity to host up 20,000 refugees.
    somalia refugees
    The Agency transferred 247 refugees that comprises of 11 buses and two trucks to the new camp. The refugees will be the first 7,000 Somalis who have been identified as refugees by Ethiopia with UNHCR support.

    Each week, the Agency will relocate 500 refugees from Dolo Ado to the new camp at Melkadida, spokesperson Melissa Fleming in Geneva was quoted.

    The UNHCR office in Ethiopia receives up to 3,000 refugees from Gedo, Mogadishu and in south-central Somalia per month, according to Kisut Gebre Egziabher, spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency in Adis ababa.

    “Somalis are arriving in Ethiopia at an average of 200 individuals per day, and we are already planning for further camps near Melkadida,” Ms. Fleming announced.

    Melkadida camp is the second refugees' settlement in southeast Ethiopia and the fifth in the nation to host refugees fleeing from Somalia.

    The Bokolmanyo camp was built to house 20,000 people last April but reached capacity within the year. More than 60,000 Somalis refugees are living in Ethiopia at four camps, including Bokolmanyo.

    The fighting in Somalia has killed over 19,000 Somalis since 2007 and 1.5 million people displaced inside the country while another 560,000 civilians have registered as refugees in neighboring countries. Somalia is one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.

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