Most of the families fled Ethiopia around 20 years ago. Most now want to leave the chaos that has descended in Yemen but do not want to return to Ethiopia.
“I don’t know where to go even if I am facilitated with transport,” said Amina Mohamed, a member of one of the Ethiopian families.
“I’d rather stay in Yemen instead of going back and rotting in jail,” she added.
Her fears are shared by Abdirizack Nur, another Ethiopian refugee currently in Al-Kharaz.
“I have absolutely no hope of returning [to Ethiopia] after living in Yemen for the last 20 years. We lived on food aid given out by the UNHCR but that has now stopped. We now live in very difficult conditions,” he said.
Run Abdi, 55, told Radio Ergo she preferred to die in Yemen instead of being shipped to Somalia. “I am not willing to be a refugee in Somalia,” she said.
The leader of the Ethiopian Somali refugee community, Beddel Ahmed, requested international aid agencies to provide them with protection and relocate them to safer areas.
“Going back to Ethiopia from Yemen will be like out the frying pan in to the fire for us, so we request to be relocated elsewhere,” said Ahmed.
Hundreds of Somali refugees have already returned to Somalia since the Yemen conflict began.
