Abstract:
An estimated 1,000-2,000 Eritreans cross illegally into Ethiopia each month. The vast majority of these refugees are escaping mandatory military service. Others are members of persecuted religious minorities, journalists, and political dissidents. All are subject to the threat of arbitrary detention if they remain in Eritrea. Although Ethiopia is host to some 138,000 refugees, the protection issues faced by Eritrean refugees are unique and separate from those experienced by its other refugee populations. Threatened by both Eritrean state officials working within Ethiopia, as well as Ethiopian officials keen to maximize their political value, Eritrean refugees are forced to look to the Ethiopian state for protection from these threats. Due to the inherently political nature of refugee protection and the ongoing hostilities between Eritrean and Ethiopia, it is the author's position that the current refugee protection regime in Ethiopia is unsuitable and unable to meet the protection needs of the Eritrean refugee population. These needs, the extent to which they are being addressed by the Ethiopian government, UNHCR, and resettlement countries, and the challenges to effective protection of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia will be the focus of the following thesis.
