Seminar Report

                                         By Eritrean Dialogue Forum

The Seminar which was held on 16th June 2007 in Stockholm Sweden on the situation of the Eritrean Refugees in Sudan in general and the Refugees in camps in the Eastern Sudan in particular, was successfully attended by a huge number of concerned Swedish-Eritreans in Stockholm.

The seminar was chaired by Mr. Salih Sabah. In his introductory speech, Salih has briefed on the study conducted by the Eritrean dialogue forum in Sudan about the situation of the Eritrean refugees. He introduced the two speakers to the public. The first speaker was Mr. Fesseha Nair and the second was Miss Hayot Ibrahim.

Mr. Fesseha Nair analysis focused on the main problems facing the refugees in the camps of Umgurgur, Wedsherifey, Shegerab and Kilo 26. His analysis mapped out the needs in the camps in seven points:

-          Food supply

-          Health and medical services

-          Water supply

-          Education and public information

-          Transport supplies

In his further analysis he added that the case of the Eritrean refugees in Sudan has been overshadowed by the Darfur case and is not drawing the attention of the international community. The UNCHR’s  assessment conducted in 1997 resulted in categorizing the refugees in accepted and rejected was not correct and has never put in action, the flow of refugees again when border war with Ethiopia started worsened the situation of the Eritrean refugees in Sudan.

In his concluding analysis, Mr. Nair have summarised the experiences from the refugee camps under the study and integrated these findings in a general analysis of the different means of helping them to solve their daily problems.

Miss Hayot Ibrahim has presented her speech by first showing a film on the situation of the refugees in Kilo 26. She elaborated the miserable situation of the refugees in pictures and text.

Her analysis focused on the children and women most impoverished and have no opportunities to improve their lives. She further went in depth examining the lack of the resources to help these needy people who have lived in the refugee camps for more than forty years without development plans from the international community. She criticized the UNCHR’s self-reliance proposal as too late and without no preliminary studies.

Public discussions, comments and proposals

Seminar participants met in their individual capacities and discussed about the presented report on the Eritrean refugees in Sudan in general; and the refugees in the camps in particular. The discussion was on the main problems of the refugees and how to meet them. Challenges and opportunities were discussed. Most of the comments were how we in diaspora co-operate with the refugees and help solve their problems. Many constructive ideas and proposals were suggested by participants. The seminar was successful in identifying or mapping out the issues on the agenda of helping the refugees in Sudan. It was a good initiative for building development co-operations with the Eritrean refugees in Sudan.

EDF/ Organizers