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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Thursday called for humanitarian access in Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region, where hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced due to the conflict.
Ethiopia and the UN have signed an agreement for humanitarian access in the region, where the Ethiopian armed forces carried out a “police operation” against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The federal government says it was drawn into a military confrontation as TPLF leaders and fighters refused to surrender after storming a military base, killing soldiers and looting military equipment.
“The announcement that we will finally have access to the conflict zones in Tigray is a welcome development for all humanitarian workers operating in the region,” Secretary General Jan Egeland said in an NRC press release.
“This should mean access to everywhere, including internally displaced persons and Eritrean refugees living in the Tigray camps,” he said while visiting refugees in the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan, near the Ethiopian border.
“Aid convoys are on standby; ready to move to Tigray and help families in need. Supplies are needed immediately as there is a severe shortage of food, medicine and other relief. We also need more humanitarian workers to support staff. we have on the ground, some of whom have had to flee themselves. We are ready to leave today. ”
Up to 100,000 refugees are expected to arrive in Sudan in the next five months due to the Tigray conflict, according to the statement.
About 10,000 people have already transited to the Um Rakuba refugee camp, 70 kilometers southwest of the main border crossing from Tigray to Sudan, he said, adding that the camp has reached its maximum capacity.
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