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January 4, 2021 (GADAREF) – The Ethiopian Federal Army deployed more troops to the border area to prevent people fleeing the war in the Tigray region from crossing into Sudan.
Federal troops have regained control of most of the territory in the Tigray region. However, TPLF fighters continue to resist in various areas causing new waves of refugees.
Sudanese authorities recently identified more than 40 TPLF elements who arrived in Sudan among the civilians.
“The Ethiopian army began to close the borders with Sudan, deploying troops, patrolling the border and building a fence to prevent refugees from reaching Hamdayet camp,” a witness told the Sudan Tribune on Monday.
The witness further said that Ethiopian army and police patrols chased the refugees in the May Glitte area leading to the Hamdayet Reception Center on the Sudanese side of the border.
There are more than 5,000 people in Dima, near the Sudan border, seeking to enter the Hamdayet center, according to eyewitnesses.
Fateh Moghaddam, director of emergency housing for refugees, told the Sudan Tribune that the number of Ethiopian refugees has exceeded 63,000.
Moghaddam noted that 44,000 refugees from Hamdayet camp in Kassala state are waiting to be transferred to Altanideba camp in Gadaref state.
He added that the movement of refugees from the Hashaba Reception Center in Gadaref started on Monday, with 250 refugees.
UNHCR and the Sudanese authorities initially decided to move 1,000 refugees per day to the newly opened second camp in the Altanideba area, but revised their plans after the coronavirus outbreak in the Um Rakuba camp.
Moghadam said the High Commissioner for Refugees reduced the number of passengers on a single transport bus from 35 to 15 people.
In addition, 250 refugees are transported to Altanideba from Hamdayet camp, which is near the border area of the triangle between Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia. UNHCR and the Sudanese authorities say they are considering ways to speed up the evacuation of refugees from this sensitive area.
(ST)
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