In addition to the information on Harshin refugee camp please consult in Responses to Information Requests ETH23516.E of 27 March 1996 and ETH22929.E of 17 January 1996, which are available at Regional Documention Centres.

In a letter sent to the Research Directorate by electronic mail on 16 June 1998, Matt Bryden. a consultant and Somali specialist now working with the United Nations Institute for Research on Social Development (UNRISD) in Nairobi, provided the following information:

The camp population was principally Isaaq, of the Habar Awal and Arab sub-clans, who reside mainly in the western part of "Somaliland." The refugees in Harshin formed part of the massive exodus that followed the outbreak of full-scale war in NW Somalia in 1988, and reprisals by the Somali government against Isaaq civilans suspected of supporting the rebel Somali National Movement.

At least half of the registered refugees from this exodus have since returned home, or moved to the nearby refugee camp at Hartasheik. The obstacles to repatriation of the remaining camp populations are principally economic, and not based on any credible threat of persecution upon their return home.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Bryden, Matt. UNRISD, Nairobi. 16 June 1998. Letter received by electronic mail.

Refugees [Geneva]. 1990-1997. Nos. 72-110.

United Nations High Commissionner for Refugees (UNHCR) Information Bulletin. 1991-992. Nos. 1-8.

United States Committee for Refugees (USCR) [Washington]. World Refugee Survey. 992-1997.