Ethiopia: A model country in amiability to refugees
Tesfaye Lemma
People in the Horn of Africa have been suffering from manmade and natural disasters at various times. They faced various natural catastrophes including drought and floods that resulted in the displacement of millions of people. By the same token, artificial disasters like civil and cross country in wars and conflicts have also become the major causes for internal and external displacements.
In this case, the situations in Somalia, Eritrea and South Sudan could be typical examples. Despite the exodus of the people, mainly from these three countries to Ethiopia has been increased from one time to another time, Ethiopia has continued doing its level best for better handling.
It has been harboring a large number of refugees from different African countries. As its borders with all countries surrounding it are opened, a great deal of people is coming from the neighboring countries. The country has been playing a significant role in harboring these migrants. Currently Ethiopia has become one of the top five refugee hosting countries worldwide.
As witnessed by different international organizations and the refugees themselves, the country has unique respect to people regardless of their nationality. It opens its doors to every refugee from any country, gives various opportunities, allow free movement to other harboring developed countries and contributing in supplying the basic needs.
It’s commitment in handling refugees is so commendable. One among many countries and organizations is the African Union that has praised the country’s grand handling of refugees. In fact, this is not as such easy for a country faced various challenges including the severe drought impacting the lives of a significant number of citizens who need daily food assistance.
While the country is in a condition where it deserves a lot of finance to feed its drought stricken people, it has also shouldered the responsibility of contributing various humanitarian supports to a large number of refugees’ influx to it from different African countries.
The United Nations Country Office also recommended Ethiopia’s devotion in creating conducive atmosphere for refugees in the country. Recent reports indicated that the country could serve a model at worldwide level in handling refugees even with the scarce of resources.
One of the sound performances is that the country has opened its doors for all refugees from all neighboring countries mainly from Somalia, South Sudan and Eritrea. The country has harbored for a large number of refugees from different countries mainly from Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia. Recent reports of UNHCR indicate that there are more than 850 thousand refugees in Ethiopia.
The country never differentiates refugees coming to it regardless of its bilateral relations with the refugees’ respective countries. This experience is so surprising that many sociological analysts praised the country for such a new initiation that the world has never experienced so far.
The typical example for this argument is the fact that Ethiopia despite its disputes with the state in Eritrea, it hosts hundreds of thousands of Eritrean refuges. This has been happening while the State in Eritrea is killing, torturing and doing everything ill to Ethiopians.
The sound argument of the Ethiopian government is the fact that hostility between governments and political leaders has not been connected with the people. Although the State in Asmara is one of the ant-peace, anti-development and aggressive one, the Eritrean people like peace and development; they want to good relations with their neighboring countries.
The other sound performance of Ethiopia while handling refugees is the fact that it has been working to improve the livelihoods of refugees sheltered in it. Besides, the country let refugees get various opportunities such as education at home and abroad.
Cognizant of the importance of education to the citizens to improve their lives, the Ethiopian government has offered education access to more than 35 thousand refugees only in 2016/17 Ethiopian scholastic year. In this regard, there is a continued effort particularly to empower women. Recent reports indicate that the total number of refugees enrolled in education system in all levels precedes 179 thousand. Of this large number of refugees who got the opportunity to free scholarship in Ethiopia, more than 75 thousand of them are female students.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) also reported that Ethiopia has been cooperating with UNHCR in handling and accommodate refugees in line with international principles. Still, there is an influx of refugees and the country continued hosting them. It is so crucial that the rights of these refugees in Ethiopia were respected and they have got various opportunities and advantages of asylums to other developed countries.
As recent studies indicated the majority of refugees in Ethiopia are from neighboring countries. Of these refugees in the country, 41 percent is Somalis, 35 percent South Sudanese, 15 percent Eritreans, 2 percent Sudanese, 0.4 percent Djiboutian 7 percent from other countries. Ethiopia shelters more than 2.3 percent of the refugees worldwide, UNHCR reports indicated. This is a remarkable share that the international community should comprehend and help the country.
Allowing free movement of refugees is unusual in many countries, even in developing countries. The experience of these countries indicated that refugees are kept in camps. However, the situation in Ethiopia is quite different from this fact. Amazingly the country allowed the refugees free movement in the country.
One of the typical examples in this regard is the number of refugees living freely in the capital city, Addis Ababa. According to recent data, there are more than 20 thousand refugees residing in Addis Ababa. These refuges are the combination of persons who desire medical treatments, serious protection and those who need other humanitarian reasons. Reports also indicate that the country has planned to free more refugees to move in the country work freely and live in the society.
Ethiopia has continued to be safety destinations for people fleeing from neighboring countries. It is the first choice of all refugees from neighboring countries, regardless of the government relations. Besides the country received with open hands and offer them with the basic need from its very scarce resource that is why Ethiopia has become one of the model countries in the world in handling refugees properly.