UN shuts down 4th refugee camp
2002-08-08 09:31
Addis Ababa - The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday it was closing a no longer needed Somali refugee camp in eastern Ethiopia following a successful repatriation scheme.
The remaining 3 700 refugees from the Rabasso camp in eastern Ethiopia were repatriated last week, on a voluntary basis, towards the self-proclaimed republic of Somaliland in north-west Somalia.
UN observers have deemed the area to be safe.
Since last January, some 17 600 Somali refugees have been
repatriated from camps in eastern Ethiopia towards Somaliland.
The UNHCR has closed down four refugee camps in Ethiopia since
June 2001 - in Terefi Ber, Darwanaji, Daror and Rabasso.
Some 3 000 Somalis from the Camaboker refugee camp were also
repatriated last week.
In the late 1980s, civil war in Somalia drove tens of thousands
of Somali refugees over the border into Ethiopia.
The UNHCR estimates that more than 49 000 Somali refugees are still living in the camps of Aicha, Camaboker, Hartisheik and
Kebribeyah in the east of the country. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA