The first cases of Covid-19 in the EHAGL region were reported on 13 March and the situation continues to evolve. All 11 countries of the region have reported cases and local transmission. While there has been no large-scale outbreak amongst UNHCR’s populations of concern, the need for preparedness is urgent. UNHCR is working closely with governments, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Country Teams to promote the inclusion of refugees, IDPs, stateless people and others of concern in national preparedness and response measures – in particular in health, hygiene and sanitation programmes, as well as distance learning and emergency social safety nets.

Internal displacement is also a phenomenon in countries in the EHAGL region and faced by several countries on a large scale. Over 8 million people are currently internally displaced. Efforts are underway to strengthen UNHCR’s role in inter-agency IDP responses in line with the 2019 IDP policy and the High Commissioner’s new Initiative on Internal Displacement which includes Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan. Recent opportunities to pursue solutions for IDPs in the region were bolstered by South Sudan’s accession and Ethiopia and Somalia’s ratification of the African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention).

During 2019, some 220,000 people were granted international protection in the East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Region (EHAGL), bringing the total number of refugees and asylum-seekers to 4.7 million. The region hosts some 67 per cent of the refugees on the African continent and 20 per cent of the global refugee population. The largest number of refugees and asylum-seekers in the region are from South Sudan, with significant numbers also from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan. Governments have generally continued to maintain open-door asylum policies and embraced the Global Compact on Refugees by adopting progressive national refugee frameworks and promoting the inclusion of refugees into national health, education and social protection systems.

We are pleased to announce that the Joint Refugee Return and Reintegration Plan (JRRRP), an integrated inter-agency response plan to ensure the sustainable return and reintegration of Burundi refugees from the five main countries of asylum (Tanzania, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya) is now available online. The JRRRP articulates the joint strategy to receive voluntarily repatriating refugees and provide both humanitarian and development oriented community-based response activities reaching an estimated 74,000 assisted and self -organized refugee returns in 2017and 2018, up to 116,000 refugee returns projected for 2019, as well as an additional 82,000 community members in the six main provinces of return. The plan brings together 19 partners within Burundi, including Government ministries, UN agencies and NGOs with a rationale to assist displacement affected communities in Burundi by strengthening their absorption capacity and resilience. While UNHCR is of the opinion conditions in Burundi are not currently conducive to promote returns, UNHCR and partners are supporting a solutions oriented approach by assisting refugees who indicate they have made a free and informed choice to voluntarily return. More than 75,000 refugees have returned to Burundi through the assisted voluntary repatriation program since September 2017, while others have returned on their own, citing the wish to return to their houses and farms, and to reunite with family. With respect to recent media statements by the governments of Tanzania and Burundi about plans to repatriate refugees more quickly on a bilateral basis, UNHCR continues to call upon the commitment of both governments to uphold international obligations and ensure that any returns are voluntary and conducted in line with the Tripartite Agreement and as reaffirmed at the Tripartite Commission Meetings of August 2017 and March 2018. UNHCR is also urging all States to ensure that no refugee is returned to Burundi against their will, and that measures are taken to make conditions in Burundi more conducive for refugee returns including confidence building efforts and reintegration support for those who have chosen to go home.

From 7 September 2017 to 31 July 2019, 74,979 refugees voluntarily returned to Burundi in an organized manner with the support of UNHCR.

UNHCR’s Representative in Uganda today handed over three ambulances, thirty one motorcycles and a thermal scanner to the Ministry of Health to boost the Ebola response. Uganda has included refugees in the National Ebola Preparedness and Response Plan and continues to keep its borders open, ensuring safe and dignified asylum for the women, children and men arriving daily from the neighbouring countries.

UNHCR welcomes Uganda Communications Commission directive to improve refugees’ access to SIM cards.

On 30 June, a first case of Ebola was confirmed in Ariwara, Aru Territory, DRC. In order to strengthen preventive measures to contain the virus, UNHCR and its partners conducted four mass sensitization sessions in Biringi, Aru and Aba targeting refugees and host community members.

UNHCR is not promoting voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees, it supports the exercise to ensure that all returns are safe and dignified, and the result of a free and informed choice.

Majority of Burundian refugees in Rwanda are engaged in agriculture. An average of 312 refugees per day were employed in Moringa tree plantation near Mahama refugee camp.