Addis Ababa, October 16, 2023 (FBC) – Technical experts from IGAD Member States on Refugee Management holding a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to review and validate the IGAD Policy Framework on Refugee Protection.
It is stated that the IGAD Policy Framework on Refugee Protection is believed to address multiple and interlinked concerns resulted from the complex displacement situation in the IGAD region, it is learned.
As a regional body, IGAD eyes at sustainable development, resilience and stability through binding legal instruments. Therefore, it is high time to have a regional policy framework to address fresh and renewed armed conflicts, climate catastrophes and events seriously disturbing public order that trigger new and secondary displacements.
According to Refugees & Returnees Service of Ethiopia (RRS), the Government of Ethiopia has ratified and enacted one of the most progressive refugee proclamations in the continent of Africa.
The Proclamation has clearly outlined the admission, registration, documentation, status determination of refugees and asylum seekers, RRS further indicated.
According to IGAD, the review and validation workshop runs from 16th to 18th.
The event brought together commissioners of refugees, representatives from foreign affairs, UNHCR East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, the Embassy of Sweden in Addis Ababa, and others.