UN registers over 70,000 Ethiopian refugees, asylum seekers in Sudan
May 30, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said it registered more than 73,000 Ethiopian refugees and asylum seekers in Sudan by February, many of who fled fighting in the Tigray region.
The agency also uses a snapshot to examine whether and how Ethiopian refugees and migrants interacted with smugglers on their way to Sudan.
The snapshot was produced in the context of a partnership with the UN Office of Drugs and Crime Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants, which provides a knowledge base on migrant smuggling in different regions.
The recent snapshot, according to UNHCR, was based on 244 surveys conducted with Ethiopian refugees and migrants interviewed in Sudan from February 2021 to February 2022.3 The sample consists of 34% women and 66% men, aged between 19 and 62 years with an average age of 30.
At least 46% of respondents used a smuggler during their journey to Sudan.
“Just under half (46%) of Ethiopians interviewed in Sudan had used a smuggler to facilitate their journey. When disaggregating the data by region of origin, responses varied considerably,” the snapshot notes in part.
For example, respondents from Tigray least often used the services of a smuggler to reach Sudan (18%; 21/118), while the vast majority of those from Addis Ababa (93%; 27/29) and Oromia (71%; 12/17) used a smuggler.
“Respondents from Amhara more closely reflected the sample’s average (45%; 17/37). This suggests that proximity to the border plays a role in the use of smugglers. There were no observable differences in smuggler use between men and women,” notes the snapshot from UN refugee agency.
It also emerged that respondents who used smugglers spent on average $526 on their journey from Ethiopia to Sudan. Those who did not spent $309.
However, while 73% of respondents perceived smugglers as helping people, 33% felt intentionally misled by smugglers, according to the snapshot from UNHCR.
Overall, of those respondents who had used a smuggler, most (58%) used one smuggler for the entire journey, while 26% used one for only part of their journey and 16% used several smugglers for different parts of the journey.
(ST)