Aid Through Confinement UNHCR’s Aid to Eritrean Refugees in Sudan, 1967-1970 A Case Study of Wad Sharife

Abstract

Today, we increasingly witness surges of refugee camps followed by heated debates, discussions, and reports of human rights violations occurring in them and other violations and controversies. During the Global Cold War, major refugee crises erupted around the globe and presented complex challenges to the international community. The United Nations General Assembly tasked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide international protection for refugees and find a permanent solution to the problem. Numerous refugee camps were established due to the vast refugee flow, especially in Africa. This thesis examines UNHCR’s aid to Eritrean refugees in Sudan between 1967-1970, with a focus on refugee camps. During the temporal scope of this thesis, the UNHCR’s policy and practices regarding refugee camps were changing. This thesis will explore these changes and examine the organization´s ability to provide adequate aid to the refugees settled in refugee camps by conducting a case study of one of the refugee camps in Sudan for Eritrean refugees, Wad Sharife. Wad Sharife was built in 1967 to accommodate the newly arrived Eritrean refugees in Sudan, and the camp is still in operation today. Wad Sharife has been operating for almost 60 years and was once one of the largest refugee camps in the world. Yet, it is a refugee camp that is barely written about and is largely missing from the scholarly debate.