Postion Paper

Committee : United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Agenda : Acknowledging the current Status-quo about the Rights of Refugees in

Armed Conflict

Country : Ethiopia

Over the years Armed Conflict has brought a series of devastating consequences to the mass
people. These conflicts generally end in exceptional movement and displacement of the civilian
population forcing them to flee to different international locations for safety of existence and
liberty. It also brings about human rights violation and intensifies refugee crisis. The worst part
is most often than not these violations go unaddressed and perpetrators behind this are not
prosecuted. In all of this, the refugees are the ones who face unimaginable sufferings.

For this very crisis The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was
established in 1951 dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights for the future refugees, forcibly
displaced communities and stateless people. In recent times, UNHCR has helped countless
refugees working alongside the country government by providing them with Covid-19 related
assistance, vaccination, health care services, registration services, cash based interventions,
economic inclusion and livelihoods, protection, education and other basic humanitarian facilities.
These actions highlight the purpose and commitment of UNHCR in protecting the rights of the
refugees.

Ethiopia has a long-standing history of hosting refugees. It maintains an open-door policy and
allows humanitarian access and protection to those seeking asylum on its territory hosting over
823,000 refugees and asylum seekers predominantly from South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea. In
2004, a national Refugee Proclamation was enacted based on the international and regional
refugee conventions to which Ethiopia is a party. At the Leaders’ Summit in September 2016
Ethiopia made nine pledges on Education, Out of Camp Policy, Documentation, Local
Integration, Basic Social Services and Work and Livelihoods (four pledges) to respond to the
needs of refugees in a more comprehensive and sustainable manner. Ethiopia was an early
leader in pursuing the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). The Tigray
conflict in November, 2020 resulted in more than 59,000 people to flee from Ethiopia finding
refuge in neighboring countries. At a time like this UNHCR worked alongside the government of
Ethiopia and local partners to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to millions of
refugees in distress. In this way Ethiopia continues to facilitate the response of the international
community in seeking development solutions for the helpless refugees.

Ethiopia proposes few solutions to counter the current refugee crisis which can be implemented
by the support and assistance of UNHCR and other foreign countries:
• Opening planned and efficient routes to sanctuary for the refugees to reunite with their
relatives safely without risk of drowning or losing money.
• Prioritizing saving lives above all. Preventing death while crossing the border and
investing in search and rescue operations.
• Investigating and prosecuting trafficking gangs who exploit refugees and migrants.
• Rather than blaming the refugees for the socio-economic problems, focus should be given
to combat all kinds of xenophobia and racial discrimination.
• Actions like voluntary repatriation, resettlement and local integration should be executed
as much as possible for effective and fruitful results.

Reference:

• https://www.unhcr.org/ethiopia.html
• https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/ethiopia/
• https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2015/10/eight-solutions-world-
refugee-crisis/
• https://verfassungsblog.de/a-global-solution-to-a-global-refugee-crisis/
• https://globalcompactrefugees.org/article/ethiopia#:~:text=2.-
,Ethiopia's%20response%20to%20the%20refugee%20situation,seeking%20asylum
%20on%20its%20territory.