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UNITED NATIONS, Dec 10 (Xinhua) – People in need in Ethiopia’s Tigray state are reportedly running out of food due to lack of access for the United Nations and its partners, UN humanitarians said Thursday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that while the full scope of the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s northernmost regional state remains unclear, food for the displaced is have exhausted.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has received worrying reports of refugees leaving the camps in Tigray due to violence and a lack of food and services.
The United Nations has been complaining for weeks that the Ethiopian government has not granted access to those in need in Tigray and adjacent states. Communication lines were also reported down.
The United Nations and the government announced an access agreement last week, but earlier this week, government troops fired on a UN assessment team as it sought to check roads for aid convoys.
“The delivery of essential humanitarian assistance to the region by the United Nations and its partners depends on a security risk assessment of the roads leading to Tigray and a humanitarian assessment of basic needs,” said OCHA.
“The UN and its humanitarian partners reiterate the urgent call to all parties to the conflict in Tigray to allow unconditional, unrestricted and safe humanitarian access to the entire region, where people are now in their fifth week without food, water and electricity, “OCHA said.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has said that regaining access to refugees and other people in need in Tigray is urgent and critical.
The number of refugees who have fled Tigray into Sudan now stands at 49,500, UNHCR said.
A three-month humanitarian preparedness plan, spanning from last month to next month, targets an additional 1.1 million people likely to be affected by the crisis in Tigray and parts of the adjacent Amhara and Afar regions, OCHA said.
The total cost of the plan to the United Nations and its humanitarian partners is US $ 96.9 million. The humanitarian office said only $ 14 million had been mobilized.
The crisis erupted early last month during clashes between Tigray rebels and the federal government, depriving civilians of their necessities and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes and refugee camps running out of supplies. Final product
