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Ethiopians who fled the Tigray region for Sudan are torn between a bleak future in refugee camps and returning to nearly a month’s conflict in their homeland.
More than 45,000 people have fled northern Ethiopia since November 4, after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered military operations against leaders of the ruling Tigray party in response to their alleged attacks on federal army camps.
In neighboring Sudan, families have been separated and farmers have been forced to abandon their crops to take refuge in vast camps on the other side of the border, with limited access to water, food and sanitary facilities.
Many remain hopeful that normalcy will soon be restored to Tigray and they can return to their lives.
“I love Ethiopia. I left my elderly mother and my farm behind. If there is peace and the war stops, I will return immediately,” Bergha Mongosto said last week at Sudan’s Village Eight transit center near the Ethiopian border.
Abiy announced on Saturday that the military operations in Tigray had been “completed” after the army seized control of the regional capital, Mekele, but it was unclear whether the fighting in Tigray would end immediately.
Some refugees are determined to return, regardless of whether the conflict continues.
“I have an agricultural project in Mai-Kadra and I don’t want to live in a refugee camp,” Drajo Germaya told AFP, referring to a village in Tigray.
“When I return to Ethiopia, I will not return here. We either live or die there,” he said from the Sudanese border town of Hamdayit.
Others complained about the marginalization of the Tigray region and said the conflict had left them no choice but to start their lives elsewhere.
“It is very hard here, but I will never go back to Tigray. We have no option to go back,” said Tigrayan refugee Dagaf Abraha from Um Raquba refugee camp, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the border.
“Abiy Ahmed does not want the Tigray tribe in Ethiopia,” Abraha said.
Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, has vowed to protect civilians and has repeatedly called for refugees to return.
– Hope to return –
Tigray has been under a communications blackout during the conflict, making it difficult for refugees across the border to control their loved ones.
It has also made it impossible to know the total number of fierce fighting that has included air strikes and at least one alleged massacre that allegedly killed hundreds of civilians.
Authorities say the refugees have largely preferred to remain near the border in hopes of returning.
“Eighty percent of them (refugees) are farmers who have not finished harvesting their crops. They want to come back to do that,” said Po Mayro, from the UN refugee agency, from the Hamdayit transit center in Sudan. .
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said on Saturday that most of the refugees he had spoken with wanted to return.
“They left their crops unharvested. They left part of their families and their belongings,” he told reporters during a visit to the Um Raquba camp.
Sudan, one of the poorest nations in the world, was already struggling with its own deep economic crisis before the massive influx of refugees.
Earlier this month, Soliman Ali, governor of the eastern border state of Gedaref in Sudan, said the number of refugees was “far beyond the state’s capabilities.”
Grandi called on donors to act and said Sudan needed $ 150 million in aid to deal with the flood of refugees.
– ‘Has to change’ –
Conditions in the camps are difficult and the health situation is precarious.
Doctors from the Mercy Corps aid group in Um Raquba camp told AFP earlier this month that they had seen multiple cases of dysentery and tuberculosis, malaria and HIV among the refugees.
They expressed their fear that the overcrowding could worsen the health situation.
So far no cases of coronavirus have been reported among the refugees, but there are fears that any outbreak will spread rapidly through neighboring camps and villages.
Abiy on Saturday called for a “return to normalcy” for the residents of Tigray.
“Now we are faced with the critical task of rebuilding what was destroyed, repairing what was damaged and bringing back those who have fled,” he said.
But some refugees say they prefer life in the camps to that of the Abiy government.
“I won’t go back even if the situation stabilizes there. I want to start working here,” Tekhlay Manout said last week at the Village Eight transit center.
At Um Raquba, Gabrahi Wadgeday dismissed the idea of returning.
“Why should I go back?” he said.
Another refugee, Burhan Yussef, said he would only return under a different regime.
“The government of Abiy Ahmed has to change,” said the 77-year-old.
“If you do, I’ll come back. If you don’t change, I’ll stay where I am.”
