On this page, you will find:

To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Djibouti LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Djibouti country of origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Djibouti COI page. 

Refugee protection

Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Djibouti. 

The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Djibouti is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.

Djibouti succeeded to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol in 1977. It has also signed the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. However, Djibouti is not a State party to the UN Conventions on Statelessness, including the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessnes.

Until the end of 2016, refugee matters in Djbouti had been regulated by means of administrative decrees passed by the Government.On 5 January 2017, the Djbouti Head of State promulgated the National Refugee Law, which ensures a favorable protection environment for refugees and enables them to enjoy fundamental rights, including access to services, education, employment, and naturalisation.

Djbouti maintains an open door policy and continues to offer protection and asylum space to refugees and asylum seekers. Djbouti grants prima facie refugee status to Yemeni and Somali asylum seekers originating from South and Central Somalia. Newly arrived asylum-seekers from Ethiopia and Eritrea follow individual refugee status determination procedures. 

Legal aid organisations

We haven’t identified any organisations that provide legal aid to refugees and asylum seekers in Djibouti.
If you have any suggestions, please get in touch. 

Organisations providing other support to refugees

Address: Abdoulaker Houssein, APEF BP 178, Djibouti
Tel:  +253 35 32 36 or +253 81 94 85
Fax:  +253 35 32 36
Email: apefdjibouti@yahoo.fr

Members and employees of APEF have benefited from training on the human rights of displaced persons, and put this into practice in APEF’s programs. Since 2007, APEF has been implementing micro-credit programs for more than 300 local women financed by Fonds Social de Developpement. Since August of 2003, they have also provided community services in the refugee camps of Djibouti.

Djibouti LGBTQI+ Resources

Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Djibouti.

Djibouti COI

Find Djibouti Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents. 

We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.

Last updated May 2023