Addressing Relief and Repatriation Needs in Nongovernment-Held Areas: Implications for Policies and Programs

Abstract

This paper will examine the existing constraints to addressing relief and repatriation needs in nongovernment-held areas and point to areas of possible change. Nongovernment-held areas are held by a force other than a central government army. In the case of Tigray, these areas were not only inaccessible to the army of the former central government of Ethiopia (GOE), but were also administered by an opposition force, theTigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Relative to other national liberation movements, the TPLF's administrative system was quite developed; in addition, the movement controlled a wide area encompassing most of rural Tigray and, by 1988, the whole of the region. Effective access was maintained from neighbouring Sudan, and the Relief Society of Tigray (REST) operated as an effective disaster management agency.