Friday June 12, 2020
Somali refugee Mako and her six children moved into a new bamboo shelter last year, after living in a tent for several months in Kobe refugee camp, Ethiopia. © UNHCR/R.Nuri
ADDIS ABABA, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday said its facing a critical funding gap to meet the needs of refugees in Ethiopia.
A monthly fact sheet published by UNHCR, said it has only received 55.1 million U.S. dollars out of the total 298.5 million U.S. dollars required to meet the basic nutritional needs, as well as the education, health and accommodation needs of refugees in Ethiopia.
As of May 31, 2020, the UNHCR has registered 763,827 refugees and asylum seekers 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, South Sudan, Somalia and Sudan, according to figures from the Ethiopian government.
Conflict and drought in neighboring countries continues 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 refugees fleeing conflicts in Yemen and Syria.