Freedom of movement, the right to Work, access to social services, and local integration are among the legal provisions afforded to refugees under the new refugee law, according to Ethiopia’s Agency for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA).
Agency’s Public Relations Head Yasin Aiuy told The Ethiopian Herald that the recently revised Refugee Proclamation will assist refugees to get sustainable and developmental aid apart from fulfilling their basic needs. The law allows refugees to get work permit in industrial parks, and any other fields after getting legal license from Ethiopian government, he noted.
In collaboration with the UNHCR, the agency put forth a long-staying grant for refugees to locally integrate into Ethiopian society. Local integration is one of the three durable solutions for refugees, together with voluntary repatriation to their country of origin and third country resettlement, he added.
As to him, the law also permits refugees to access social services such as telecommunication, banking, identity and travel documentation, and driver’s license certification. The new law also ensures access to financial and judicial services, Yasin explained.
According to Yasin, the refugees have to bring a reference who is an Ethiopian national to get license as well as get renewal regularly. Apart from this, there are other controlling mechanisms to ensure their security, he indicated.
In fact, it was obvious that some United Nations’ organizations welcome Ethiopia’s historic new refugee law that maintains an open door policy for new arrivals and allows humanitarian access and protection to those seeking asylum on its territory.
Recently UNHCR Country Office Public Information Officer, Kisut Gebreegziabher had said the UN Refugee Agency welcomes Ethiopia’s historic new refugee law which will now allow refugees to obtain work permits, access primary education, obtain drivers’ licenses, legally register life events such as births and marriages and open up access to national financial services.
On a press release sent from UNHCR, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees said: “The passage of this historic law represents a significant milestone in Ethiopia’s long history of welcoming and hosting refugees from across the region for decades.”
According to Kisut, the UNHCR praises the decision to allow refugees and asylum seekers to engage in wage earning employment, even though the particular provision refrains from affording the same working rights as Ethiopian nationals.
UNHCR will continue to work with the Government of Ethiopia and the international community to ensure that resources are made available to create opportunities for the employment of both refugees and Ethiopians, Kisut stated.
In this regard, “the expansion of a network of industrial parks across the country will provide 70% of new job opportunities to Ethiopians, with the remaining 30% reserved for refugees. Additionally, the new law ensures that the allocation of irrigable land by the Government of Ethiopia for agriculture production as part of joint projects will benefit refugees and Ethiopian nationals on equal basis.”
As to him, UNHCR also lauds Ethiopia’s bold decision to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are provided with access to national health and education services on the same basis as Ethiopian nationals.
This new provision is in line with the fundamental human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other international human rights instruments Ethiopia has signed.
According to Yasin, Ethiopia currently hosts over 900,000 refugees, primarily from neighboring South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea, as well as smaller numbers of refugees from Yemen and Syria.
The Ethiopian Herald June 1/2019
BY HIZKEL HAILU
