BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
Ethiopia is one of the countries hosting a large number of refugees and asylum seekers, sheltering 844,589 registered refugees and asylum-seekers, as of 31 March 2022. It is also one among the countries that have progressive refugee policies.
In fact, the country is renowned for warmly welcoming refugees and asylum seekers who came to it seeking its protection. Sharing from its scarce resources, it will do what it can to make them feel at home and comfortable. Due to this, the country is considered as a safe haven for refugees and asylum seekers.
However, these days, following the large number of people flocking into the country as well as some other challenges, organizations engaged in assisting such people have appealed the global community to extend a helping hand and donate additional fund that could be used for the coming six months.
As the three organizations, the World Food Program (WFP), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Ethiopian Government Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) confirmed last week, they are running out resources and appealed for 73 million USD to feed over 750,000 refugees in Ethiopia for the coming six months.
According to WFP, it will completely run out of food for refugees by October, leaving vulnerable families who are dependent on food assistance at risk of under nutrition, micronutrient deficiency, susceptibility to diseases/infection and increased protection risks, the three agencies warn.
WFP’s Representative and Country Director for Ethiopia, Claude Jibidar said that they have 75 million funding shortfall for refugees’ minimum needs.
“We have a shortfall of 73 million USD for refugees’ minimum needs and we are deeply concerned that if funding cuts continue, they may consider returning to their places of origin when it is unsafe.”
Food rations for refugees in Ethiopia were first reduced by 16% in November 2015, by 40% in November 2021, and by 50% in June 2022, it was indicated.
UNHCR’s Deputy Representative in Ethiopia, Margaret Atieno also said they are concerned by the lack of food for refugees and solicited for more funding from donors.
“We are grateful for what donors have provided so far, but more funding is needed and quickly.”
The drought in some part of the country will also undermine the gains made in refugee protection and risk impacting the peaceful co-existence between refugees and their host communities coupled with the depleting food supply.
“We are very concerned about the lack of food for refugees. The continued lack of full rations for refugees, coupled with the impact of the most severe drought that the country has experienced in over 40 years, will greatly undermine the gains made in refugee protection and risk impacting the peaceful co-existence between refugees and their host communities.”
On the issue, Ethiopia Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) also call on stakeholders to increase funding to address the growing demand of refugees and returnees in various parts of Ethiopia.
In its recent briefing to media, Refugees and Returnees Service Director General, Tesfahun Gobezay said that “Ethiopia, with its progressive refugee policy and commitments, has been striving to ensure the sustainable self-reliance of refugees and host communities with its scarce resources, struggling with recurrent funding gaps from the international community.”
“The subsequent deduction of the overall humanitarian assistance fund for refugees in Ethiopia in recent years has not only affected the immediate basic needs of refugees, but also hindered the long-term intended sustainable self-reliance and co-existence of refugees and host communities.”
The ongoing resource constraints create conflict and stress due to competition over the existing scarce local resources. The persistent budget cuts and the recent 50 percent deduction of the food and cash assistance to refugees from the minimum recommended standard seriously affect the lives of refugees, exposing them to chronic hunger, anaemia, and other challenges, as more than 85 percent of refugees in Ethiopia are fully dependent on the monthly food rations of WFP.
This will drawback the positive development of Ethiopia towards ensuring the self-reliance and co-existence of refugees and host communities and above all make the entire life-saving efforts difficult, he added.
Ethiopia hosts more than a million registered refugees and asylum-seekers. Most of them are from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan. Of these, about 750,000 are fully dependent on humanitarian food assistance. The refugee operation in Ethiopia, which is hosting more than 870,000 refugees, is faced with serious challenges due to shortfalls of funding from donor organizations, according to the RRS.
RRS Director-General, Tesfahun Gobezay told local media that food shortage and financial limitations have been hampering the operation of the service.
The challenges of refugee operation and food insecurity in the country have been further compounded by current global limitations to food availability, economic shocks, rising costs of food and energy, fallout of COVID-19, among others.
“As a result, we are facing a ration cut that is unbearable for the refugees and they are getting 50% of the bare minimum that is stipulated in the international standard. This has created a lot of challenges for refugees, hosting communities and the government as a whole. If people do not get enough food to survive, they might resort to other illegal or un-ethical options. For this reason, we have expressed our concerns to all the concerned bodies,” the Director-General noted.
Urging the international community and donor organizations to give emphasis to the condition of refugees in Ethiopia and provide the necessary support, Tesfahun stressed that refugee operation is a shared burden of the hosting country, concerned bodies, and the international community.
“If the funding improves, our operation can improve accordingly,” he stated.
As to him, hosting of refugees has also created an impact on the environment and became a concern to the government of Ethiopia since refugees have to cut trees to build their shelters and to prepare their daily food.
“Most of our camps are in Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz, which are two of the greenest regions of the country. There is a huge deforestation that is happening in the regions. The refugees cut trees continuously to build shelter and prepare food,” he further elaborated.
The government, along with partners, is trying to come up with ideas of alternative energy sources and green legacy strategy to minimize the impact of refugee operation on environment, Tesfahun said.
According to him, the response coming from UNHCR and other partners to address this challenge is not, however, up to the severity of the problem.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Birtukan Ayano, State Minister of Foreign Affairs, has discussed with the UN East African Region Humanitarian Coordinator, Daniel Endres at her offices last Friday focusing on enhancing cooperation on addressing humanitarian assistance in different areas of the country.
During the discussions, Ambassador Birtukan briefed the Humanitarian Coordinator about the ongoing efforts of the government regarding distribution of humanitarian assistance to the affected regions in the country and reaffirmed government’s commitments ahead to address the challenges.
Furthermore, Ambassador Birtukan urged partners and humanitarian agencies to scale up cooperation and the much-needed humanitarian support.
The Humanitarian Coordinator on his part praised the continuous effort and commitment of the government in addressing the issue and called on the efforts to further be strengthened.
The two sides discussed how to expand humanitarian assistance to different parts of the country and agreed to work in close partnership to address the issues.
The refugees in Ethiopia originated from 26 countries, and most of them are from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 18 AUGUST 2022
