I want a better life for my children

Abdirizak Musa | 27 December 2016

KEBRIBEYAH REFUGEE CAMP — For Redwan Sharif, a graduate in Accounting, the prospect of achieving meaningful economic empowerment seems remote. While UNHCR and partners continue to work on improving opportunities for refugees like Redwan, long term solutions remain difficult as the world grapples with emergencies that have created unprecedented human displacement.

“I don’t know where I will end up,” she declares. “I don’t want my children to grow up and become parents in the camp like me!” Redwan was born and raised in Kebribeyah refugee camp, located in Ethiopia’s eastern hinterlands. Her parents and three of her siblings fled to Ethiopia in 1991 when war broke out in Hargeisa, Somalia 25 years ago. The family had found refuge there after fleeing war in southern Somalia.

“I don’t want my children to grow up and become parents in the camp like me!”

Redwan becomes pensive as she talks about their escape, which she only knows about from their stories. “My family walked 11 days and nights without a break to get to Kebribeyah,” she says. “There was no water. Many old people died on the way, and some children were left behind by their parents who could not carry all of them.” Redwan was born two years later.

She says the early years in Kebribeyah were better; aid agencies were very helpful in taking care refugees, supporting them with opportunities for education and employment. She has many memories of happy and blessed times in the refugee camp, where she went to school and was later married.  The 23 year old now has two children.

“There was no water. Many old people died on the way, and some children were left behind by their parents who could not carry all of them.”

Recently Redwan graduated with a diploma in Accounting from Jijiga Management Institute. She was sponsored by UNHCR through its Edcuation partner, DICAC. However, her new qualification has not yet helped her to fully gain a foothold in Ethiopia. She is unemployed. “I used to work as a social worker for a relief agency in the camp,” she says. “I earned 700 Ethiopian Birr a month.”

“I don’t think I will go to southern Somalia in the near future. The situation that drove my family away has not changed much.”

Kebribeyah camp has become more than just a temporary harbor for its 14,000 Somali refugee residents. For many, like Redwan, returning home is currently not an option. “I don’t think I will go to southern Somalia in the near future,” she says, “because the situation that drove my family here has not changed much.” She adds that Hargeisa, departure point for her parents’ flight to Ethiopia, is neither her nor her parents’ home anymore. She cannot go back there because of Somalia’s clan dynamics.

Somalia is among the top three refugee producing countries in the world, along with Syria and Afghanistan. The Somali refugee situation is among the most protracted in the world, with over two decades of forced displacement affecting three generations of Somalis. There are currently one million Somali refugees living in exile in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Yemen, while some 1.1 million Somalis remain displaced within Somalia.

Though prospects for meaningful employment in Kebribeyah seem as remote as the possibility of returning to her native southern Somalia, Redwan draws inspiration from her neighbor, Halimo, who is also a family relation. Halimo runs a private business as a petty trader in the refugee camp, which she founded with a cash grant provided by UNHCR after receiving training in basic business skills.

“The 55 year old has developed the confidence to expand her horizons and has become more optimistic about her family’s future

Halimo comes from a family of farmers. She had no previous experience doing business, yet she is now an entrepreneur running a shop in the local market where she sells clothes. As her business has grown, the 55 year old has developed the confidence to expand her horizons and has become more optimistic about her family’s future.

“I am now be able to educate my children,” she says. She has six of her own, and two that she is raising from a brother who died and a sister who disappeared. Halimo is pleased with her achievements. She never dreamed she could be a successful businesswoman with a lot of opportunities. “As an elderly woman,” she says, “I can now advise the young people, including my children, to engage in businesses.”

“With additional funding, further efforts can be invested to encourage refugees like Redwan to follow the footsteps of Halimo and create a better future for themselves and their children.”

UNHCR’s Head of Office in Jijiga, Mr. Mohammed Mamoun Hussein, believes Halimo’s experience provides an indication of what is possible if opportunities are created for refugees. “With additional funding, further efforts can be invested to encourage refugees like Redwan to follow the footsteps of Halimo and create a better future for themselves and their children,” he says.

However, with world attention and precious resources currently dominated by urgent needs to save the lives of those who continue to flee conflict and persecution, possibilities to provide meaningful education and create opportunities employment or other forms of self-realization for refugees are increasingly limited.