Ethiopia registers over 54,000 refugees in first 5 months of 2017

Ethiopia has registered an additional 54,107 refugees from January to May 2017, with most being Eritreans, South Sudanese and Sudanese, the media reporte.

The figure was given by Ethiopia's Administration for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA) on Saturday in capital Addis Ababa during a presser as the country prepares to commemorate World Refugee day on June 20, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ethiopia currently hosts more than 850,000 refugees from 21 countries with Sudanese, Somalis, Eritreans and South Sudanese making up the majority.

The East African nation is preparing to commemorate World Refugee Day in the Gameblla regional state which is housing most of the South Sudanese refugees.

The event will be attended by prominent personalities including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

Zeynu Jemal, Deputy Director of ARRA said with the world home to more than 65 million refugees, Ethiopia is playing its dutiful part as one of top 5 refugee hosting countries globally.

--IANS

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