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Ethiopia plans new camp for Somali refugees: UNHCR

Souce:Xinhua Publish By Thomas Whittle Updated 20/10/2012 3:08 am in World / no comments

 

GENEVA, Oct. 19 — The Ethiopian government has authorized the opening of a new refugee camp at the country’s southeast Dollo Ado complex, which already hosts more than 170,000 Somali refugees, a spokesperson of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Friday.

Andrej Mahecic told reporters some 214,000 Somali refugees currently live in five camps in Dollo Ado and one in Jijiga, accounting for one-fifth of the total number of Somali refugees in the region.

The newest camp in Dollo Ado, which opened last November, is now full to capacity, while people are continuing to flee conflict and insecurity in southern and central parts of Somalia, according to Mahecic.

More than 25,000 Somalis fled to Ethiopia between January and the end of September, making it the largest recipient of Somali refugees in the region so far this year, he said.

He said more than 5 million U.S. dollars is needed for the new camp, setting up basic services and infrastructure including medical, education and warehousing facilities, in which 1.5 million dollars is urgently needed for the initial phase.

 

Belarus to open its embassy in Ethiopia in 2013

19.10.2012 16:03

MOSCOW, 19 October (BelTA) – The Embassy of Belarus will be opened in Ethiopia, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Igor Petrishenko told media following the cooperation agreement signing ceremony between the Foreign Ministries of Belarus and Ethiopia in Moscow on 19 October. According to Igor Petrishenko, the decision to open the Belarusian diplomatic representation was taken by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. “The Ethiopian side was fast in giving its consent to open our embassy,” the diplomat said. He added that the Embassy of Belarus in Ethiopia will open in 2013. The Ambassador stressed that the embassy would boost Belarusian-Ethiopian all-round cooperation. Ambassador of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia to Russia with concurrent accreditation in Belarus Mr Kasahun Dender Melese, for his part, said that the Ethiopian government is ready to do everything possible for the Belarusian embassy to be opened as soon as possible. The African Union that unites 54 countries of the continent is headquartered in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The Belarusian embassy in Ethiopia is expected to coordinate the work with all member states of the union.