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Khartoum, Jan 4 (efe-epa) .- The flow of Ethiopian refugees fleeing an armed conflict in Tigray into Sudan has increased in recent days as violence erupts, Sudanese authorities said on Monday.
Ethiopian government forces have been fighting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the Eritrea border region since 4 November.
“The number of those fleeing the armed conflict, which was renewed between the two parties in recent days, has increased, according to testimonies from refugees who have arrived since the end of last week”, emergency director of the Refugee Commission . in the eastern states, al-Fateh Mokadem told EFE.
A total of 61,458 Ethiopians have entered Sudan since the conflict broke out in early November, including 42,902 through the Hamdayet crossing and 18,556 through Qadarif, both in eastern Sudan, Mokadem said.
The Ethiopian government proclaimed victory over the Tigray rebels on November 28, after more than three weeks of fighting, although sporadic clashes have continued on various fronts.
In mid-December, the Sudanese authorities registered just over 51,000 Ethiopian refugees.
The commission, under the Ministry of the Interior, had to open a new camp in Qadarif to cope with the increase in the number of refugees who overflowed capacity in the two existing camps.
“This morning we began to transfer the first group of refugees from the Hashaba border post to the new al-Tanideba camp, after the overcrowding of the Umm Rakuba camp, which exceeded its capacity,” he added.
In November, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees demanded $ 147 million to help Ethiopian refugees, estimating that their number in Sudan could reach 100,000 in six months. EFE-EPA
az-ar-ppa / ta / ks
