As South Sudanese flee to Ethiopia, concerns are growing that its capacity to help displaced people may be overstretched

Ethiopia has overtaken Kenya to become Africa’s largest refugee-hosting country after hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese arrived in the country this year. The total refugee population has reached almost 630,000, raising concerns that its capacity to help displaced people may be overstretched.

Civil war in neighbouring South Sudan is “the main factor” behind Ethiopia’s soaring refugee population, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said. About 188,000 South Sudanese have arrived in Ethiopia since conflict erupted in December, bringing the total number in the country to 247,000.

East Africa’s refugee infrastructure has been heavily strained by fighting in South Sudan, which has driven nearly half a million people into camps around the region, with most settling in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, according to the UNHCR. Up to 1 million South Sudanese could be displaced in neighbouring countries by the end of this year, it said.

Ethiopia is poised to bear the brunt of South Sudan’s refugee crisis, said Kisut Gebreegziabher, public information officer at UNHCR’s Ethiopia office, which expects 300,000 South Sudanese to flee to Ethiopia by the end of the year. “Resources have always been scarce but the continuing influx of refugees from South Sudan in particular is putting further strains [on our operations],” Kisut said.

Close proximity to South Sudan makes Ethiopia’s western region accessible for many refugees, said Kitty McKinsey, UNHCR’s spokeswoman for east Africa. “Generally, when a person’s life is in danger, they flee to the closest safe country. Most of these people walked to get to Ethiopia,” she added.

South Sudanese started fleeing their country after President Salva Kiir accused his former vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup in December, triggering a wave of violence. Although ceasefires have been agreed, both sides have been accused of committing war crimes and endangering the lives of civilians.

As well as coping with refugees from South Sudan, Ethiopia is seeing an increasing number coming from Eritrea, as people flee a strictly enforced national service that requires all adults to spend most of their lives working for the government. Activists also bemoan a harsh government crackdown on free speech.

Eritrea’s escalating refugee crisis has resulted in almost 100,000 people seeking refuge in Ethiopia. Both crises are straining Ethiopia’s ability to support refugee populations.

“The number of Eritrean refugees coming into Ethiopia has shown a steady increase over the last several years – from an average of as low as 250 to 300 a month in 2009 to an average of 2,000 a month in 2014,” Gebreegziabher said. “They say they are fleeing persecution at home, including gross human rights violations and forced and open-ended military conscription.”

Torrential rain expected to last until October has caused flooding in some of Ethiopia’s camps. “With the rainy season, malaria cases are increasing,” said a spokeswoman from Médecins sans Frontières (MSF). “Because of the cholera epidemics in South Sudan, MSF is planning a vaccination campaign in the Gambela area for a target population of 187,000, to include both refugees and the host community.”

Although a decades-long conflict in Somalia has driven about 250,000 refugees across the border into Ethiopia since 1991, the number of Somali arrivals has declined in recent months, said the UNHCR. “We are seeing a drop in the number of refugees coming from Somalia and that’s a very welcome development,” Kisut said. “In July, for example, we received less than 500 Somali refugees and this has been more or less the trend over the last several months.”

Kenya hosts about 575,000 refugees, many of whom live in Dadaab refugee complex, the world’s largest, with about 340,000 displaced people from Somalia.

Refugees from Afghanistan and Syria comprise the majority of the world’s displaced populations: Pakistan hosts the most displaced people, followed by Iran, Lebanon and Jordan, according to the UNHCR (pdf).