By Linda Young

New York, NY (AHN) – A United Nations-backed operation is resettling ethnic Eritreans in the United States. About 700 ethnic Kunama refugees from Eritrea who spent years in exile in northern Ethiopia will begin a new life in the United Nations. The refugees were flown out of Ethiopia on Wednesday and are being resettled in several cities in Georgia, Florida, Washington and Nevada.

The Kunama refugees have been in Shimelba camp in Ethiopia. They were displaced in the 1998-2000 border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. . They come from a primarily rural ethnic group of only about 100,000 people who live along the disputed border. They said they entered Ethiopia because they were being persecuted and harassed by the Eritrean government.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is giving assistance to the refugees until September. The refugees will be resettled in several U.S. cities including Atlanta, Orlando, Seattle and Las Vegas.

One refugee headed for Atlanta with his family of five explained why he was immigrating to the United States instead of trying to return to Eritrea. His youngest daughter is 7-years-old and was born at the Shimelba refugee camp, according to a U.N. statement.

“I opted to go further afield not because I do not like my country, but because I cannot return at this point,” said Nagasi Gorado Becho, 45, before boarding his flight in Ethiopia.

His wife said that they had friends who had resettled in the U.S. and appreciated their opportunities for work and learning there

The 700 refugees are also being resettled because the UNHCR says that they can’t return safely return home to Eritrea. It has arranged for extensive orientation programs to help the refugees adapt to life in America.

There are 1,300 Kunama refugees left in Ethiopia, but not all of them will be resettled in the United States. Many of them want to wait for a political solution that will allow them to return to Eritrea.