Eritrea & Sudan
Repatriation of Eritreans from Sudan starting

afrol.com, 23 March - After the last Ethiopian Mengistu refugees were returned from Sudan by last week, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) now embarks on the repatriation of some 160,000 Eritrean refugees, most living in Sudan for decades.

Eritrea and Sudan yesterday (Thursday) agreed on the repatriation of 160,000 people, the Eritran government guaranteeing their return to Eritrea without having to fear persecution. Some of these refugees have lived in exile for more than three decades. Under the agreement, signed in Khartoum on Thursday by Sudanese and Eritrean government officials and the top UNHCR representative in the region, UNHCR will help with the return. 

- An estimated 62,000 people are supposed to go back this year, and another 90.000 will be repatriated next year, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond today informed in Geneva. 

Last summer, UNHCR repatriated some 25,000 Eritreans who earlier in the year had fled to Sudan during an outbreak of hostilities between Eritrea and Ethiopia. But some 160,000 Eritreans who had fled to Sudan during the war of independence under the Mengistu regime and even earlier, during the reign of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, still remain in Sudan. 

The story of the Eritrean refugees is of one of the world’s oldest exile populations. Some of the refugees came to Sudan as teenagers, grew into adulthood and have become parents themselves. Others were born in Sudan, sometimes to Sudanese, but also to other nationalities, including to Ethiopian refugee mothers or fathers. 

Repatriation in Eritrea will be a difficult task for these long-time refugees and the Eritrean government, which needs to provide opportunities for this large group. Some are in the midst of university studies and cannot switch to the Eritrean educational system. Others have found jobs in Sudan and are uncertain whether they will be able to find work back home in Eritrea. 

Sudan, a nation torn by civil war and plagued by natural disasters, has hosted Ethiopians and Eritreans for decades. But it has no provision to integrate foreigners, regardless of how long they have lived there. This makes return the only viable option for Sudan’s remaining Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees. UNHCR has been negotiating with Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea for much of the last decade to resolve the Horn’s protracted refugee crises.

UNHCR today informed that it is urging donor support for the large repatriation project. Last December, in anticipation of an agreement, UNHCR asked donors for US$ 24 million to pay for the repatriation, which would put an end to one of Africa's longest refugee situations. "To date we have received no funding pledges, but hope that yesterday's agreement will encourage the donors' generosity," Redmond stated. 

This will be one of the greatest repatriation projects ever carried out, and it will put the regional logistic system to the probe. The return of 160,000 Eritreans by far outnumbers the recent repatriation of a total of 10,700 Ethiopian refugees from Sudan.

Sources: Based on UNHCR and afrol archives

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