Eritrea: 33 Somali refugees repatriate voluntarily

ASMARA, 2 September 2015 (UNHCR) - Today UNHCR and the Government of Eritrea voluntarily repatriated 33 refugees from Umkulu Refugee Camp (Massawa) back to Hargeisa, Somalia.
 
A number of the refugees had been in asylum for over 20 years and the rest were generations born in asylum.
 
Further such movements are anticipated in the coming months, as UNHCR and it's main government counterpart, the Office of Refugee Affairs, step up the drive to ensure that Somali refugees find durable solutions to their plight at the earliest feasible time.
 
The State of Eritrea has hosted Somali refugees for two decades granting them an overall satisfactory level of protection and access to basic rights. Somali refugees constitute 95% of the 3,000 refugees in the country.