UNHCR Envoy for Somalia urged the int’ll community to pay close attention to deteriorating conditions of the Somali Refugees in Yemen
By Ahmed Abdi
Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Affey, UNHCR Special Envoy for the Somali refugee situation
UNHCR Envoy called on the international Community to pay attention to find a sustainable solution to what he called a humanitarian crisis in Yemen on Thursday, December 22, 2016.
The Special Envoy for the Somali Refugee reiterated the situation & said that “The Somali refugees in Yemen require urgent attention” in a recent meeting with a group of people from community leaders and elders whom he listened their concerns in the UNHCR’s Bureau for Refugee Affairs (BRA) at the Algerian Street in Sana’a.
The ambassador indicated that he listened to tales of painful stories of a population that risk to be forgotten, on his recent Facebook post.
“We need to find a solution to this crisis.” Despite the conflict in Yemen, it hosts thousands of refugees and asylees from Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria and persons of various other nationalities yet many African refugees continued arriving in Yemen in every single day to escape prosecution in their countries of origin and in search of security and better economic prospects if any.
In his visit to some other Arabian countries the Ambassador met officials from Organization of Islamic Cooperation, United Arab Emirates and King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid. He indicated that had fruitful discussions with the leaders of these countries as he feels more optimistic about the fate of the Somali refugees.
The search for a durable solution to the protracted Somali refugee situation is gaining support, the Ambassador said. While also urging to the international community that Somalia needs the collective support of all to allow the population both inside and outside to live in dignity.
Somali Communities have lived in Yemen since the early 1990s. A large number of people have managed to be resettled in Europe, Australia, and the United States.
The Somali refugees are generally located in Al-Safia, Khawlan, Khafji and Shaob areas in Sana’a, while many others live in Al-Kharez Refugees and Basateen district of Aden in the South of Yemen.
Most of the urban refugees are women who do not have legal documents and are not allowed to work in the country but maintain to work under the table as house maids and are paid 150 dollars per month.
Ambassador Affey told a Somali journalist in Sana’a that the UN Refugee Agency will try to get cash assistance for the Somali refugees willing to voluntarily repatriation back into Somalia and will help living expenses for them to live in for six months.
The post UNHCR Envoy for Somalia urged int’ll community to pay attention appeared first on .