UN High Commissioner for Refugees says $346.5mn needed to serve refugees in Ethiopia

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees revealed on April 11 it has only received 13 percent of the USD 346.5 million it needs to meet the requirements of refugees in Ethiopia.

In a press statement sent to Xinhua, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the USD 346.5 million funds are needed to meet the basic nutritional, educational, health, clean water, sanitation and shelter needs of refugees in Ethiopia.

The UNHCR has registered 915,073 refugees as of August 31, 2018 in Ethiopia, most of whom are housed in refugee camps in six regional states. Ethiopia currently hosts the second largest refugee population in Africa, next to Uganda. Refugees in Ethiopia primarily come from Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, according to figures shared by the UNHCR.

Conflict and drought in neighbouring countries continue to force people to seek refuge in Ethiopia, which has a long tradition of hosting refugees. Ethiopia has also in recent years hosted an increasing number of Yemeni and Syrian refugees fleeing conflicts in their respective countries, as reported by Xinhua.

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