United Nations reported on Tuesday that 24,000 Eritrean refugees are stuck in two camps in Ethiopia’s Tigray area, shut off from humanitarian help and whose food rations may have run out.
The United Nations refugee agency, in a request for access to the Mai Aini and Adi Harush camps, said there was a “real danger of hunger” if the refugees did not receive supplies.
Fighting between Ethiopia’s central government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) began in November and has escalated in and around the camps, according to the report, with two refugees killed this month.
“The last food distribution to the two refugee camps was in June, and the ration supplies were only enough for 30 days,” said Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the United Nations.
“If supplies do not continue, there is a serious risk of hunger among these refugees, as they may have already exhausted the food supplies that were handed to them,” he added.
He also stated that clean drinking water is in short supply.
On Twitter, World Food Programme Director David Beasley said the UN agency will run out of food in Tigray on Friday and that 170 trucks delivering food and other supplies were on their way.
A unilateral government ceasefire intended at facilitating humanitarian relief was hampered by TPLF “provocations,” according to an official state website.
It was suggested that the rebel group be pressured to open the corridor for cargo.
The World Health Organization’s Fadela Chaib claimed medical services in Tigray were “alarmingly restricted,” leaving hundreds of thousands of people, including the wounded, stranded.
She stated there has been a “substantial and concerning increase” in the number of instances of severe acute malnutrition among youngsters in Tigray.
On July 14, UNHCR lost access to the camps, according to Baloch.