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Agencies planning the possible arrival of 200,000 refugees fleeing violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia over a period of six months.
United Nations agencies are planning the possible arrival of 200,000 refugees to Sudan fleeing the violence in Ethiopia over a period of six months, said an official with the UN refugee agency.
“Together with all the agencies, we have built a response plan for about 20,000 people and we are currently at about 31,000, so it has already exceeded that number,” Axel Bisschop said at a briefing in Geneva on Friday.
“The new planning figure is around 200,000.”
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people have been killed since Ethiopian government troops launched a war two weeks ago in the northern state of Tigray against regional authorities they accused of staging a surprise attack on federal forces.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize last year, unleashed a military campaign in the Tigray region on November 4 with the stated aim of overthrowing his ruling party, the People’s Liberation Front of Tigray (TPLF), whom he accuses of defying his government. and seeking to destabilize it.
Thousands of refugees have fled the second most populous country in Africa, some huddling into boats to cross a river into Sudan, overwhelming aid groups positioned on the other side.
UNICEF Sudan Representative Abdullah Fadil said there were concerns about the spread of disease among the crowds, nearly half of whom are children.
UN agencies are seeking $ 50 million in immediate funding that will go towards providing food and establishing new camps.
Meanwhile, Tigray forces fired rockets at a neighboring state on Friday, raising fears that the internal conflict could spread to other parts of the country.
The attack came a day after Ethiopia said its forces were closing in on Tigray’s capital, Mekelle.
International calls for peace have intensified alongside the fighting.
US officials said Thursday they had urged the de-escalation of both Abiy and the TPLF leadership, but saw little prospect of negotiations.
“At this point, neither party, from all we hear, is interested in mediation,” said Tibor Nagy, the top US diplomat for Africa.
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