Global Policy Forum

IDPs Continuing To Suffer War

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Integrated Regional Information Network
February 16, 2004

Internally displaced Eritreans continue to suffer the consequences of war and drought, resulting in inadequate fulfilment of basic needs such as food, water, health care, shelter and education, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported. OCHA said the country still had 58,953 internally displaced persons (IDPs), living in and outside camps and unable to return to their places of origin. "Although much has been accomplished to assist these IDPs, many basic needs are not yet fully met. A continuous effort is required to avoid a deterioration of the situation," it said.


"The UN and partners would welcome a return of IDPs to their home villages. However, this confronts reality on the ground where demarcation of the contested border is yet to take place, damaged infrastructure has to be rehabilitated, and the pace of demining has to be accelerated," OCHA said in its January donor update. In addition to IDPs, there were also about 16,845 rural expellees in the camps and other settlement areas, it added.

"The temporary shelter situation in IDP and expellee camps is currently very critical. The tents, which are totally or partially damaged due to wear and tear or weather conditions, need to be urgently replaced or repaired," OCHA added. "Out of a total of 19,699 households, 14,357 require urgent tent replacement... In addition, camps lack adequate sanitary facilities, including latrines, forcing IDPs to use communal areas outside of camps as informal latrines."

OCHA cited Mai Albo camp, near the southern Adi Kwala town close to the Ethiopian border, where 1,000 IDPs and displaced returnees from six villages were living in tents. "The return to their home villages has not happened because of damaged homes, insecurity or mine infestation. With very few owning livestock, the majority depend on food aid. Because of the rough terrain not easily accessed by vehicles, the camp dwellers walk six hours to Adi Kwala town to collect their food rations and mill their grain," it said.

"The nearest clinic and hospital are in Adi Kwala. Consequently, only very small children get carried to the health facilities, while sick older children remain at home and make do with drugs obtained by their parents from pharmacies when they are able to get to the town. Access to education is also constrained by the long distance of the school from the camp. Children below 10 years are therefore not allowed to make the long journey to school," the update said. OCHA added that food assistance was a critical issue in the country. It said that mainly due to failure in rain in 2003, Eritrea would be heavily dependent on timely and adequate food aid in 2004. "Unless responses come forth quickly and in adequate quantities, a difficult condition is anticipated to set in early in 2004," it said.

OCHA added that the World Food Programme (WFP) had reported that 433,000 t of food aid was required to meet the needs of the vulnerable populations in Eritrea throughout 2004. WFP thus far had received 41 percent of its projected food aid needs for 2004, leaving a balance of 135,486 t still to be found. "A joint FAO [Food and Agriculture Organisation]/WFP crop and food assessment mission in October 2003 estimated that cereal production for the year was only about 106,000 t, almost half of the earlier pre-harvest forecast and far short of the total cereal requirement of the country, estimated at 614,000 t," OCHA said.

"As a result of the dismal performance of crop production in 2003, Eritrea faces another year of severe food shortages in 2004, and a large proportion of the population will require food aid," it added. The report said the effects of a dry season were already beginning to be felt in the Debub, Gash Barka and Anseba regions. "Water shortages are expected to be an increasingly serious problem in these areas over the coming months. In Debub, insufficient rainfall has left dams nearly empty and wells already drying up. Many areas in Anseba are already experiencing severe water shortages. For example, in Shegali in the Asmat sub-zone, some residents have begun to migrate due to lack of water in the area. Others are walking up to 18 km to fetch water," it said.


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