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EU delegation inspects Ethiopia refugee camps in Sudan

February 10, 2021 at 9:44 am

Ethiopians, who fled the conflict in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia on December 14, 2020 [Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency]

A European Union delegation currently visiting East Africa visited Ethiopian refugees in Um Rakuba, Sudan, to inspect their living conditions and needs.

The officials, headed by Finnish minister of foreign affairs, also met with representatives of the refugees, who are estimated at about 20,000, and spoke with them about the internal conditions of the camp and their basic need for security, given the camp’s proximity to the Ethiopian borders and their fear of infiltration by elements of the Ethiopian regime.

Radio France Internationale said: “Sudan is home to more than 60,000 Ethiopian refugees in miserable camps east of the country since the outbreak of the conflict in the Tigray region,” with limited capabilities due to economic difficulties facing the country.

During this meeting, the Ethiopian refugees, who fled their country following the outbreak of the bloody armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray rebels and the massacres that occurred during battles, expressed their need for “additional tents, classrooms, health services, psychological assistance, and attention for children who arrived without their families, people with special needs, and women subjected to domestic violence,” RT reported.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, announced weeks ago that Sudan needed $147 million to respond to the urgent needs of Ethiopian refugees.

READ: 1.8m people in embattled Tigray receive relief