A/HRC/44/23 effective manner, the Eritrean authorities must lift the access and movement restrictions currently in place for international partners and create an environment conducive to their operation in the country. VI. Situation of Eritrean migrants and refugees A. Migrants and refugees on the move 69. In 2019, over 70,000 new Eritrean asylum seekers sought refuge in the Tigray and Afar regions of Ethiopia. The actual numbers of those who left Eritrea last year is estimated to be much higher, as many travelled onwards within Ethiopia or abroad, without registering with Ethiopian border or refugee authorities. 29 In the second half of 2019, various sources reported a daily average of 200 to 300 persons crossing into Ethiopia, and similar numbers were reported in the first months of 2020. Those seeking refuge in Ethiopia included national/military service conscripts and women and children seeking family reunification. As of December 2019, approximately 27 per cent of the new arrivals in the northern Tigray region of Ethiopia were unaccompanied and separated children. 30 The new influx has significantly strained the registration and reception conditions at the Endabaguna reception centre and at the Barahle and Aysaita camps and increased demands for shelter at other camps, where the available services are insufficient to meet the needs of asylum seekers. At the end of April 2020, the registered Eritrean refugee population in Ethiopia stood at over 172,000.31 70. The borders between Eritrea and Ethiopia and the Sudan remained closed during the reporting period. Those seeking to leave the country continue to require an exit visa and some resort to migrant-smuggling networks or “escorts” to cross the border undetected by border security.32 71. In February 2019, Ethiopia adopted a new refugee proclamation strengthening the rights of refugees (A/HRC/41/53, para. 67). However, as of late January 2020, the Ethiopian authorities began restricting the conditions for Eritrean asylum seekers to register for asylum in the country. At the time of writing, the Ethiopian authorities are applying an individual refugee status determination for Eritreans rather than a prima facie group determination, which had been in place for over a decade, and different categories of vulnerable populations – including Eritrean unaccompanied and separated minors, persons seeking medical care, and persons seeking family reunification – are being screened out during the initial reception and registration process. The conditions for refugee status determination for Eritreans of national/military service age have become more stringent. New arrivals are thus unable to register for asylum and access basic services and shelter at refugee camps. 33 In April, the Special Rapporteur was informed of individual incidents where border and immigration staff at the Endabaguna reception centre and at the Aysaita refugee camp turned Eritrean asylum seekers away and, in some cases, told them to return to Eritrea. Also in April, several hundred recently arrived Eritreans were without shelter and were living on handouts from locals in the Tigray region, as well as in areas around the Aysaita and Barahle camps, in the Afar region in Ethiopia, after being unable to register at the camps. In a letter dated 29 April 2020, the Special Rapporteur urged the Ethiopian authorities to recognize and guarantee the right to access to asylum for Eritreans. She also urged the Ethiopian authorities to set out clear guidelines regarding their asylum procedure, 29 30 31 32 33 14 For example, in 2019, there was a steady flow of Eritreans heading from Ethiopia to Uganda. The Special Rapporteur received various testimonies from individuals who reported paying sums ranging between $2,500 to $3,500 to smugglers to transport their relatives along that route. In December, an average of 30 unaccompanied and separated children were arriving per day in Tigray. Children account for approximately 44 per cent of the refugee population in that region. This represents a significant increase from the end of 2019, when the registered Eritrean refugee population in Ethiopia was roughly 140,000. While some individuals who recently left the country reported that they had used the services of smugglers, others reported that they had made their own way to the Ethiopian border on foot. The information received indicated that some Eritrean asylum seekers have opted to move onwards to the Sudan or south to Kenya and Uganda.