11,000 Ethiopians flee to Sudan

KHARTOUM — At least 11,000 Ethiopians fleeing conflict in the Tigray region have crossed into neighbouring Sudan, a Sudanese official said on Wednesday.

The UN refugee agency said it was helping Sudan to provide aid to more than 7,000 refugees who had crossed from Ethiopia in the past two days, warning “the number is likely to rise sharply”.

Alsir Khaled, head of Sudan’s refugee agency in Kassala, told AFP that 6,000 people had crossed into the state this week and another 5,000 into Gadaref, both in eastern Sudan.

Officials quoted by state news agency SUNA said they feared the influx of refugees, for whom local farmers had been collecting food and providing shelter, could rise sharply in coming days.

Among those who have fled across the border are Ethiopian soldiers.

Sudanese efforts to help the refugees are being stretched, said Khaled, adding that Khartoum was awaiting support from international aid agencies.

In a statement, the UN refugee agency said it was helping to provide assistance to “women, children and men” seeking safety in Sudan after fleeing fighting in Ethiopia.

“With thousands of refugees arriving at the Sudanese border in the space of 24 hours, and with the conflict appearing to escalate, the number is likely to rise sharply,” said the UNHCR.

The refugees were being provided with food and water at temporary shelters in transit centres near the border, said the Geneva-based organisation.

It said it was stepping up emergency relief preparedness in the region as it was also expecting more refugee arrivals in neighbouring countries.

“We are urging governments in the neighbouring countries to keep their borders open for people forced from their homes,” said the UNHCR’s Clementine Nkweta-Salami.

She also appealed to Ethiopia to “take steps that will allow us to keep providing assistance in safety to refugees and internally displaced within Tigray”.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into the northern state of Tigray last week after a months-long feud with its ruling party.

Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had crossed a “red line” and attacked two federal military bases, which the party denies.

The international community has expressed concern about the potential for a drawn-out conflict in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation.

The UNHCR said it was “deeply concerned for the more than 96,000” people in Ethiopian refugee camps, as well as 100,000 in Tigray who had already been internally displaced.

It said it “remains worried about the safety of refugees and humanitarian workers due to the relative proximity of the camps to the fighting and the deteriorating situation”.