Refugees fleeing Ethiopia recount fighting in Tigray
Around 30,000 people have already fled Tigray and its fighting on their way to the Sudanese border.
Elliot Brachet / RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Fleeing the war in Tigray, more and more Ethiopians are taking refuge in neighboring Sudan.
For just over a week, nearly 30,000 refugees have arrived in Sudan, according to UNHCR.
They recount the violence of the fighting in Tigray and ensure that Eritrea is also involved in the fighting.
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With our special envoy to the Sudanese border,
Elliot Brachet
Day is breaking in Hamdayet.
A crowd of refugees are waiting to be able to board about 15 buses chartered by the UNHCR.
Solomon and Barakat arrived two days ago.
“
It was too dangerous to stay there.
We have seen, with our own eyes, people having their throats slaughtered like sheep,
”says one.
“
The only way out was to come to Sudan on a small motor boat.
I don't know what awaits us here.
We have no perspective, no other solution
, ”adds the second.
The two friends do not know where we are taking them.
Women and children go up first.
The men on the roof are in direct sunlight.
A woman, her baby under her arm, a burlap with a few things on her knees, is about to embark.
“
We no longer have a home, we have left everything.
I come from Mai-Kadra.
People were killing each other with knives and guns.
Here in Hamdayet, we are alive, yes, but there is almost no water and very little food,
she describes worriedly.
So we go to another camp, we were told that the conditions would be better.
I must admit that I have very little hope for the future.
"
►Also read: Report - Ethiopia: thousands of refugees flock to Sudan to flee the fighting in Tigray
1,300 people are to be transferred 70 kilometers from here to Umm Rakuba camp.
What awaits them?
A huge vacant lot where shade is scarce.
NGOs have started building tents to accommodate the nearly 30,000 Ethiopian refugees in Sudan.
For refugees, Eritrea intervened
Many refugees witnessed the shelling in Humera.
They tell of a brutal attack and accuse Eritrea of intervening alongside the Ethiopian army.
“
I was working at the hospital when suddenly I heard explosions.
It was artillery fire.
The city was under attack from all sides.
Many civilians were injured, there were no soldiers in town at the time
, ”says Dr Darielo.
Many in the camp have fled the siege of Humera like the doctor.
For Solomon, there is no doubt that the city was taken in pincers, in the south by the federal army and in the north by Eritrea.
“
The shots were coming from Eritrean positions.
When they started, we didn't understand, we said to each other, but where does the enemy come from?
He was behind our back.
"
Nagassi, an official in Humera, claims to have seen heavy weapons fire coming from the north with his own eyes.
“
Our Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Issaias Afwerki, hand in hand, have destroyed our city.
It's obvious.
The city of Humera is glued to Eritrea.
Troops had been deployed there.
"
Two Sudanese military intelligence sources confirmed, on condition of anonymity, Eritrea's intervention in this border area.
►Also read: Ethiopia: the offensive in Tigray is entering its "final" phase, announces the Prime Minister
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Refugees
Ethiopia
Eritrea
Defense
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