Each year, thousands of Eritreans flee to refugee camps in northern Ethiopia to escape forced military inscription, persecution, and torture. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently announced that Ethiopia is now the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa. According to UNHCR, Ethiopia is host to 629,718 refugees. The largest refugee population is South Sudanese (247,000), followed by Somalis (245,000), and Eritreans (99,000). UNHCR says that, over the past seven months, almost 15,000 Eritreans arrived in Ethiopia.As the Eritrean government targets the families of young men who flee the country to avoid forced conscription, more women and children have also fled Eritrea seeking refuge in Ethiopia.

Last Friday we posted about the agreement between the UN refugee agency and the governments of Somalia and Kenya to voluntarily repatriate Somali refugees. Today, we share Juda’s story. Juda is a psychosocial counselor with the Center for Victims of Torture-Dadaab. Although most refugees living in the complex of camps in Dadaab are from Somalia, there are also refugees from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and other countries. Juda is from Ethiopia and tells how news of the agreement has caused him concern.

Last November, the United Nations refugee agency and the governments of Somalia and Kenya signed an agreement to support the voluntary return of Somali refugees. According to the UN, Kenya hosts 470,000 Somali refugees, the majority of whom live in the Dadaab refugee complex.