In Sudan, the ICRC tries to reconnect separated Ethiopian families
Ethiopian refugees in Fashaga camp, Sudan, November 20, 2020. REUTERS - MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The ongoing conflict in the Tigray region portends a serious humanitarian crisis, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.
Since November 10, the conflict in Tigray has led to the exodus of nearly 35,000 people to Sudan.
Fleeing in haste from the fighting or the massacres, many families were separated.
Publicity
Read more
With our special envoy to the Ethiopian border,
Eliott Brachet
“
Hello?… Are you okay?… We fled Mai-Kadra and went to Sudan.
You hear me ?
We managed to escape to Sudan.
”By hanging up with his sister who lives in Addis Ababa, the young man has a smile on his face, his relatives are doing well.
Samhara is not so lucky.
“
Mom and dad are still there.
I don't know if they are safe.
I dont have any news.
"
Armed with a sheet of paper filled with telephone numbers, Abdelfaraj Mohammed works for the Red Cross.
“
This program is intended for people who have lost their families due to the war.
They are loaned phones for free so that families can reunite.
"
Bertiney takes advantage of this.
“
Hello!
It's Bertiney.
Say hello to all my family.
I am in Sudan because of the war, say hello to everyone.
The line is not good, I'll call you back later.
"
This initiative of the Red Cross has just been deployed in Hashaba camp and already the list of those registered is endless.
► Read also:
Ethiopia: the situation of refugees on the border with Sudan worries NGOs
The despair of a laboratory technician twice a refugee
In the same camp, humanitarian aid is organized as much as possible.
Like every day, there is a crowd in front of this makeshift dispensary.
Semere Hagos, 25, grabs the prescriptions out the window, details the prescriptions and distributes a few antibiotic pills.
“
We see a lot of people with dysentery, malaria or typhoid.
We give them whatever medication we have.
"
With a team of three doctors, nurses and midwives, this laboratory technician fled in an ambulance while the Humera hospital was surrounded by bombardments.
“
Because of the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, I took refuge in Tigray.
But the same thing happened again, a conflict broke out and I was forced to flee to Sudan.
This is the second time that I have crossed a border because of the war.
"
This whole team of Ethiopian volunteers is hard at work to make life in the camp a little more bearable.
But for Semere, it is difficult to keep hope.
“
The real problem is that it is not the people who are fighting, it is the parties that instrumentalize people.
There was no problem between us before.
I have no future here.
I wanted to study, I wanted to work, to have a good life, but here it's impossible.
"
For the moment, his only horizon is these rows of concrete barracks, as far as the eye can see.
In just two weeks, the UN estimates that more than $ 75 million is needed to respond to the emergency in Ethiopia.
► Read also:
Conflict in Tigray: the fighting continues in the absence of any humanitarian aid
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Sudan
Ethiopia
On the same subject
Ethiopia: African Union tries new mediation
Conflict in Ethiopia: what is happening on the Eritrean front?
Conflict in Tigray: fighting continues in the absence of any humanitarian aid