From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Apr 12 2009 - 07:08:49 EDT
Yemen Move to Deport Illegal Immigrants..
12 April, 2009
Yemen has started measures to return illegal immigrants, most of whom from
the African Horn countries, to their homelands.
The announcement came as Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Muthana Hassan met with
Deputy Director General of the International Organization for Migration
Ndioro Ndiaye at the IOM headquarters in Geneva on Friday.
The meeting dealt with possible assistance for Yemen to deport illegal
immigrants to their countries.
Hassan is leading a delegation from the National Committee on Refugees to
meet officials at the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees and
the IOM.
He discussed on Friday with Deputy Chief of the UNHCR Erika Feller the
possibility of establishing a law system to differentiate between illegal
immigrants and refugees amid the influx of African displaced people into
Yemen.
The Yemeni government says the number of African refugees who have already
reached Yemen is exceeding 700.000 people while the UNHCR says the number is
exaggerated.
International experts suggest an immediate solution for the displacement of
African refugees to Yemen which started during 1990s as they lay more
burdens on Yemen's fragile economy largely relying on foreign aids as well
as the social structure.
Despite refugee associated problems, Yemen still adheres to the 1951 Refugee
Convention, the sole Arab country to sign the accord.
According to the UNHCR statistics, Yemen receives 14.000 African refugees
annually; however, the real number of refugees in Yemen has not been
identified as many African refugees, mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia, reach
Yemeni territories via the country coastline which stretches along over 2500
kilometers.
Last month, the government opened a refugee registration center at the
Passport and Migration Authorities in an effort to unify refugee statistics
like those of the UNHCR.
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