Addis Ababa, January 30, 2012 (Addis Ababa) - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said as a result of the conflict and tense situation in the Sudan, an estimated 35,000 people were displaced and entered into Ethiopian refugee camps.
In his keynote address at the launch of the Iinternational Organization for Migrants (IOM) 2011 report here on Monday, the IOM has transported 17,000 Sudanese refugees from the different border enrty points to new transit centers in Ethiopia.
Hailemariam said Ethiopia has received and is providing the necessary care to the immigrants.
He said the IOM has sent 17,000 of the stated number of refugees have been repatriated voluntarily to their homeland recently.
Hailemariam said Ethiopia is pursuing a policy of receiving immigrants that are coming to its land and providing care until their problem is resolved.
According to IOM report, there are 214 million estimated number of international migrants worldwide.
The total number of international migrants has increased over the last 10 years from an estimated 150 million in 20002 to 214 million persons today.
One of out of every 33 persons in the world today is a migrant (whereas in 2000 one out of every 35 persons was a migrant).
The percentage of migrants has remained relatively stable as a share of the total population, increasing by only 0.2 per cent (from 2.9 to 3.1 per cent), over the last decade, however, the percentage of migrants varies greatly from country to country.
Countries with a high percentage of migrants include Qatar (87 per cent), United Arab Emirates (70 per cent), Jordan (46 per cent), Singapore (41 per cent), and Saudi Arabia (28 per cent).
