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Eritrea
Latest IDP figure:
Number of refugees:
(Originating from the country)
208,743 (UNHCR, June 2008)
Total Population:
4,4 million
13 June 2006
Uncertain future for thousands of returning IDPs
The vast majority of the 1.1 million people displaced by the 1998-2000 border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea have long gone home. But Ethiopia's refusal to accept the decision of an international arbitration commission has left some 40,000 Eritrean internally displaced people (IDPs) still unable to return. Discussions between the two countries and the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Commission (EEBC) in May 2006 ended without result, apart from the UN Security Council’s decision to further reduce the border monitoring presence of the UN Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE). Precise IDP figures are unavailable, but the total was expected to fall throughout 2006 from the 2005 total of 45,000. The Eritrean government gave a figure of 8,900 households as of March 2006.
In an attempt to boost self-reliance and to reduce its dependency on the international community which it feels to be too lenient towards Ethiopia’s rejection of the EEBC’s 2002 border ruling, the Eritrean government has since mid-2005 been curtailing the activities of international agencies active in the country. It blocked UNMEE’s monitoring operations and expelled a large number of international NGOs. In a situation of great humanitarian need due to the drought affecting the entire Horn of Africa, the Eritrean government confiscated several tonnes of food supplies. It has so far not followed up on its declaration to integrate them into its new cash-for-work policy which was to replace free distribution of relief assistance. At the same time, the government has stepped up its efforts to resettle tens of thousands of IDPs to their home villages in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) along the disputed border with Ethiopia. In doing so, the government hopes to boost self-sufficiency because the areas of return are some of the most fertile in the country. However, there is no information on the living conditions awaiting the returnees, and on their physical safety in these mine-infested areas.
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Access to database
"Causes and Background","Main causes for displacement","Background of the conflict","Peace Efforts"
"Population Figures and Profile","Total national figures","Geographical distribution"
"Patterns of Displacement","General"
"Physical Security & Freedom of Movement","Freedom of movement","Physical security"
"Subsistence Needs","General","Health","Food","Water and sanitation","Shelter"
"Access to Education","General"
"Issues of Self-Reliance and Public Participation","Disruption of coping mechanisms"
"Issues of Family Unity, Identity and Culture","General"
"Property Issues","General"
"Patterns of Return and Resettlement","General","Obstacle to return"
"Humanitarian Access","General"
"National and International Responses","National response","International response","Coordination","Reference to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement"
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