Ethiopia

The Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are responsible for the coordination of the refugee response in Ethiopia. As such, this section does not represent the views of the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC) and OCHA and the funding requirements are not included in the total financial ask of the HRP but under the 2023 Ethiopia Country Refugee Response Plan (OCHA to include – this is from the 2023 HRP)

Background

As of December 2023, Ethiopia hosts 958,016 refugees and asylum seekers and remains one of the largest refugee hosting countries in Africa. The refugee population has grown significantly in 2023, as Ethiopia welcomed more than 130,000 refugees and asylum seekers, following the outbreak of armed conflict in Somalia and Sudan. The largest group of refugees residing in Ethiopia is from South Sudan (44 per cent), followed by Somalia (32 per cent), Eritrea (18 per cent) and Sudan (5 per cent). Around 85 per cent of refugees reside in 21 camps and 4 sites and settlements across the country, with the largest population hosted in the Gambella Region and in the Liban Zone (Melkadida) of the Somali Region. Close to 79,000 refugees, mainly of Eritrean nationality, reside in urban areas, including the capital of Addis Ababa. The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) continues to demonstrate generosity towards individuals in need of international protection and maintains an open-door policy for those seeking safety and protection on their territory.

Ethiopia is a State Party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Ethiopia is also a party to the 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. The GoE continues to implement pledges made at the 2019 Global Refugee Forum, including the realization of nine pledges submitted during the Leader’s Summit in 2016 to support the gradual inclusion of refugees in national services and systems. Moreover, the GoE made additional new commitments at the Global Refugee Forum in December 2023 aimed at improving the lives of refugees and host communities. The six pledges focus on 1) addressing the environmental impact of hosting a large number of refugees, including by providing alternative forms of energy, planting multi-purpose seedlings and enforcing environmental rehabilitation activities, 2) transforming refugee camps into sustainable urban settlements, 3) inclusion of refugees into the national Central Statistics Service (CSS), national gender-based violence prevention and response programs, and national ID program, 4) improving the enabling environment for private sector engagement and investment to boost productivity of refugee and host communities, 5) provision of access to 10,000 hectares of irrigable land, and finally, 6) enhancing digital infrastructure in refugee hosting areas to facilitate refugee inclusion to the digital economy.

In 2023, Ethiopia continued to grapple with insecurity in parts of the country, a challenging economic situation with a rising inflation rate, and the devastating impact of climate change, including prolonged drought and floods, which exacerbated the number of Ethiopians and refugees in need of humanitarian assistance. After a country-wide review, it was determined, in coordination with donors, humanitarian partners, and the GoE, that food assistance to refugees in Ethiopia was mismanaged and food assistance to refugees was interrupted from June to October 2023. Resumption followed collective efforts to improve the integrity of the delivery systems to get food to the intended recipients. The pause and the resumption processes have exacerbated protection risks for refugees in the country and led to an increase in harmful coping mechanisms among refugees, including a rise in early child marriages, child labor, theft, sexual exploitation, and other forms of gender-based violence, as well as an upsurge in malnutrition rates. Prolonged drought also had a severe impact on refugees and host communities living in the Somali, Oromia, South Ethiopia region, Central Ethiopia, Afar and Tigray Regions and have significantly increased the number of food insecure individuals in the country. Between October and November 2023, flooding and mudslides from heavy rainfall and river overflows affected thousands of people in the Somali, Afar, South Ethiopia and Gambella Regions. This includes refugees, especially the more than 200,000 hosted in the Liban Zone (Melkadida) in the Somali Region.

Since conflict broke out in Sudan in April 2023, more than 40,000 individuals in need of international protection crossed the border into Ethiopia. The majority of the refugees have entered through border points in the Amhara Region (Metema) and Benishangul-Gumuz Region (Kurmuk), while a smaller number arrived via the border points in the Gambella Region (Pagak and Burbiey). Due to the continued escalation of fighting in Sudan, it is expected that more refugees will cross the border to seek safety in Ethiopia in 2024. RRS and UNHCR, in close collaboration with regional and local authorities and other partners, have established new refugee settlements in the Amhara and Benishangul-Gumuz Regions to provide protection and solutions services for the newly arrived refugees. Close to 20,000 refugees are hosted in the Kumer settlement and transit center in the Metema area of the Amhara Region. Due to the high number of new arrivals, a new site called “Awulala”, located in the Amhara Region, has been identified to accommodate additional refugees. Partners in the area are currently constructing essential infrastructure, such as latrines, shelters, and others, to prepare the site for the relocation of refugees. In Benishangul-Gumuz Region, close to 17,000 refugees are hosted in the Kurmuk area, located near the Sudanese border.

In February 2023, close to 100,000 refugees from Laas Caanood in Somalia crossed the border into Ethiopia in search of safety and protection, following outbreak of conflict. The refugees arrived in various locations across the Doolo zone of the Somali Region, an area severely impacted by prolonged drought. Humanitarian partners provided immediate lifesaving assistance to the refugees, including registration and other protection services, food assistance, WASH, and shelter interventions. Close to 50,000 refugees are currently hosted in the newly established Mirqaan settlement in the Eastern part of the Somali Region, while additional refugees reside within the host community.

Insecurity in some refugee-hosting regions of Ethiopia has impacted the protection environment for refugees, including Sudanese, South Sudanese, and Eritrean refugees residing in affected regions. In Amhara, nearly 20,000 newly arrived refugees fleeing the conflict in Sudan are hosted in the Metema and along the Ethiopia-Sudan border.

Insecurity in the Amhara Region, triggering an emergency declaration by Parliament, has affected the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the newly arrived refugees, especially during periods of intense fighting, which hampered access to the refugee sites and delivery of services. Moreover, the disruption in the communication network in the region has further challenged the operational response. Due to ongoing instability in the Oromia and Benishangul-Gumuz Regions, transport of relief items along the road between Addis Ababa - Ambo – Nkemte and onwards to Assosa has been blocked, impacting delivery of humanitarian and commercial supplies to close to 80,000 Sudanese and South Sudanese refugees residing in and around Assosa, including new arriving refugees from Sudan hosted in the Kurmuk area of Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The Gambella Region, where 385,000 refugees are hosted, has also been highly impacted by instability and violence, due to ethnic tensions. This has also resulted in security and access challenges for humanitarian partners.

Coordination and partnerships

The main coordinating agencies for the refugee response in Ethiopia is RRS and UNHCR. Through bi-monthly Inter-Agency Meetings, RRS and UNHCR meet with all partners to discuss inter-sector operational issues, identify gaps in the response, and ensure alignment and complementary of the response. Field-level coordination structures ensure that day-to-day progress and challenges are implemented and managed efficiently between partners. Overall, UNHCR works closely with 57 humanitarian and development organizations in the humanitarian refugee response to consolidate a collective multi-partner approach. UNHCR is also part of the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) to ensure that the needs of the persons of concern are effectively addressed across the UN System, in line with UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). To foster refugee inclusion in national services, in line with Ethiopia’s commitment under the Global Compact for Refugees, UNHCR and partners are working with line Ministries, regional and local authorities, UN Agencies, development partners and the private sector.

The annual Country Refugee Response Plan (CRRP) is the main interagency planning and coordination tool for the 2024 refugee response in Ethiopia. It brings together RRS, UNHCR, and humanitarian and development partners, and outlines the needs and planned response for all refugees, and asylum-seekers in the country as well as host communities. The CRRP provides a strategic direction for the 2024 refugee response across all sectors and ensures linkages between humanitarian and development actors in support of protection and solutions. This cooperation is based on the draft ten-year National Comprehensive Refugee Response Strategy, the Ethiopian Government’s 10-year Growth and Transformation Plan, the Regional Development Planning, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) to ensure an integrated and comprehensive approach to refugee assistance. The plan will be revised as needed and complemented with further activities to scale up the inter-agency response. Coordination of Protection actors resumed in 2023, co-chaired by RRS and UNHCR In coordination with 20+ partners, RRS and UNHCR have developed refugee response plans for 2024 for the Sudan emergency and the South Sudan situation.