UNHCR proposes another refugee camp for Yemen [Archives:2008/1138/Local News]

Amel Al-Ariqi
SANAA, March 16 ) A UN official said on Thursday that Yemen will still receive an influx of African immigrants for many years to come, whether or not there is political stability in the horn of Africa.

“I don't want to sound pessimistic, but my feeling is that even if there is a political solution and political progress made in Somalia from where most immigrants are, we will see people leaving Somali shores for many years to come,” said Judy Cheng-Hopkins, the Assistant High Commissioner for Operations in the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

Cheng-Hopkins added that the reason for the predicted influx is a future post-war economy which will still suffer from decades of conflict and instability.

Cheng-Hopkins paid a two-day visit to Yemen to visit the UNHCR-administered refugee camp and reception center on the Yemeni coast. She said that she discussed establishing a new camp in the country with Yemeni officials, but the Yemeni government has not yet formally responded to the agency's proposition.

The high commissioner's visit came only one week after the Dutch Development Cooperation Minister, Bert Koenders, visited Yemen's refugee camp in Lahj governate.

The camp in Lahj is located in an isolated, arid area with extremely harsh climate conditions, approximately 100 miles west of Yemen's commercial capital, Aden. Koenders suggested moving the camp to another location inside of Yemen, partly due to the region's hot and dry environment, but also because of security problems inside and outside the camp.

Cheng-Hopkins, like the Dutch minister, was received by the camp's residents with angry protests on Wednesday. The refugees complained specifically about the harsh conditions that they suffer inside of the camp.

According to the UNHCR representative in Yemen, Adel Jasmin, the camp went through a difficult time during the last two weeks due to the absence of UNHCR staff, who usually work inside the camp. The staff's absence created fears among the camp's residents, he said. “Yesterday [Saturday the 15th] the staff returned and resumed their activities as usual