Photo Credit: Refugees International
04/24/2008

Not far from Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea, Shimelba Refugee Camp houses more than 17,900 refugees, rapidly approaching its capacity of 18,000 persons. Approximately 75 percent of camp residents are young males, and sexual violence against the minority female population is a persistent problem.

One resident indicated that while he believes that about 99 percent of the inhabitants are civilians, perhaps one percent is there for "other reasons."