Ethiopia is one of the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world. It hosts more than 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers. For decades, refugees were sheltered primarily in 26 camps managed by a domestic agency, the Refugee and Returnee Service. Most still are.
In early 2019, however, the Ethiopian government won global praise for enacting a law that gave close to a million refugees the right to work and live outside camps. It was hailed as “one of the most progressive” refugee laws in Africa. For individual refugees and families, it promised better economic opportunities and the potential to become citizens.
