The International Organization for Migration has announced it is building nearly 900 transitional shelters in the new Nguenyyiel camp for South Sudanese refugees in the Gambella Regional State.
Nguenyyiel camp was opened in September 2016 to accommodate roughly 4,400 people; it currently hosts 27,620 refugees who have fled from South Sudan. Transitional shelters are a considerable improvement on the basic emergency shelters currently being used by refugees in the camp. They will be built using local techniques and materials, with the refugees themselves playing a large part in the building process.
The livelihoods of the refugees and the communities hosting them will be supported through the construction phase.
The Head of IOM Ethiopia’s Sub-Office in Gambella said the new shelters would be vital in the ongoing efforts to manage the continuing flow refugees into Gambella and in responding to their needs.
Last year, IOM provided pre-departure medical screening and evacuations to 53,240 refugees in Gambella.
IOM’s shelter and relocation efforts are carried out with the invaluable support of the Government of Ethiopia’s Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) and the Gambella Regional Disaster Prevention and Food Security Agency (DPFSA). The construction of the shelters is being supported by the UK’s Department for International Development which also allows for IOM to relocate refugees from the border after they have been screened.
