BENISHANGUL GUMUZ — UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih visited the Ura refugee settlement in Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz region on World Refugee Day. During the visit, he launched the Makatet Roadmap with Ethiopian government officials to shift refugee support from humanitarian aid to long-term development.

World Refugee Day is observed annually on June 20. The Ura refugee settlement hosts over 14,500 Sudanese refugees, and its residents live alongside the local community with access to the same services. Salih visited a primary school in the settlement where Sudanese and Ethiopian children study together, and he met with Sudanese refugee entrepreneurs operating businesses.

The Makatet Roadmap, launched two days prior in Addis Ababa, is a plan to transform traditional camps into self-reliant urban settlements integrated with national service delivery systems. Salih described it as an "important and ambitious roadmap." He stated, "It allows refugees documentation, allows them access to the legal services, education, healthcare, and also the job market." He added, "I think they know this is the way to helping both the refugees but also the host communities who are under enormous strain."

Salih emphasized the nature of the initiative, saying, "But this must not be about shifting responsibility, this must be about sharing responsibility." He noted that Ethiopia hosts over 1.1 million refugees and asylum-seekers, including more than 45,000 who have fled conflict in Sudan since April 2023.

Saron Bibi Dosa, a refugee in the Ura settlement, noted the benefits of cooperation. "It good to be working together and cooperating, while sharing different facilities," Dosa said. Another Sudanese refugee, Rasha Mohammed, stated, "For us, the women or the men that don't have jobs, that helps a lot." Mohammed added, "You know, that helps a lot for you to build yourself up."

Reflecting on the broader context, Salih said, "Fleeing home to seek safety is one of the hardest choices anyone can make. I know that from personal experience." He continued, "While a person may, for a time, be defined as a refugee, becoming a refugee should not define a person's life. Being a refugee is meant to be a temporary condition, not a lifelong fate." The High Commissioner concluded, "We must continue to uphold that promise. Until everyone is safe, none of us are safe. This is not merely a statement of solidarity but a call to action. Because the right to seek safety was made for times like these, and it is up to all of us to defend it."