SCHOOL OF LAW IMPACT OF ETHIOPIAN OUT OF CAMP POLICY TOWARDS ERITREAN REFUGEES ON THE SOCIOECONOMIC RIGHTS OF HOST COMMUNITY OF ADDIS ABABA

Abstract

Since 2010, Ethiopia has adopted the Out-Camp policy which has provided Eritrean refugees with an opportunity to live in Addis Ababa and other non-camp locations. According to United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee report 2018, Ethiopia is home to 916,678 refugees and asylum seekers. Despite the policies importance for the protection of refugees human rights it’s also widely recognized that refugees from the moment of their presence began to compete with the hosting communities for different scarce resources. This gives rise to affect the socio economic rights of the host community, specifically the right to work, education, housing and health. Thus, this thesis is targeted at assessing impact of Out-Camp Policy on the socio economic rights of the host community of Addis Ababa. The major objective of this study is to assess the criticisms and merits of the Out-Camp Policy, the socio-economic impact of refugee and the policy on the host community, implementation of Out-Camp Policy and the extent of the duty to protect refugee of a given state. For this reason, the study tries to analyze advantages and potential problems which Ethiopia faced during implementation of the policy and the socio-economic impacts of refugees and the policy on the host community. This study employed a mixed-method approach. And, data were collected from target communities, key informants, field observation, and from secondary sources. Accordingly, three research areas (Bole Gerji, Gofa Mebrathail and Jemo condominium area) were selected, as mass Eritrean refugees live and reside there. The findings of this study proved that the arrival of mass refugee to the city created an impacts on the right to work of the hosting community, health issues and educational sectors. Correspondingly, the magnitude of the study shows that refugees are the reason for emerging social problems, such as prostitution and alcoholism in the city. This research recommends improve monitoring, tangible actions and create mutual understanding between hosting community and refugees from both national and international organisations.