The suffering of Sudanese refugees to Ethiopia.. Hell of Wars and Rain
Moatinoon
"I just want to go home. I want to die there, "said a fortieth lady, in a voice message received by" citizens "through the WhatsApp, mediating her four children. She lost all desire for life after living that cruel experience for the past seven months, as described by the sender.
Forced by the sound of guns and the fall of shells from the ground and sky in the southern Khartoum region, after the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to escape with their skin, as they dragged their children behind them, to Al Jazeera State, she experienced another displacement to the city of Al Qadarif after the State a It then crossed Ethiopias borders, settling in the Olala refugee camp in Amhara province, before exiting with others from the official camp after suffering increased in various respects.
What happened?
Moatinoon were one of the first press platforms to follow the exit of Sudanese refugees from the Kumar and Ulala camps in Amharas localities, and organized a protest march that planned to go to the city of Qandar, the historic capital of Amhara province, early last May.
The refugees made an urgent appeal to the authorities and organizations concerned. They had complained of insecurity since entering Ethiopian camps.
A source told Moatinoon newspaper that the situation had become tragic, prompting everyone to come out, and fearing the repercussions and developments of the crisis.
The source said that residents of Ethiopias refugee camps were desperate to be there, especially since the entire Territory had not enjoyed peace and security since the Tigray War, and that refugees did not find protection and security. The refugees demand remained that they be deported from this area to safer locations.
The situation now
Once again, a fortieth lady finds herself caught in a double inferno. The war she escaped is now taking place between Ethiopian federal forces and the Vanuan militia fighting the central Government in Amharas localities. The voices of bullets have come back to ruin childrens heartache and adult anxiety, other than the persistent suffering of lack of health care, lack of food and complete lack of education for children. Ethiopias overall fall season of heavy rains in most of its territories has made suffering worse.
The average annual rainfall is about 1,200 mm. If the rainy season comes, and these refugees are sheltering in forests after refusing to return to shelter camps, their suffering will be compounded further and further.
One refugee told "moatinoon" earlier that Ethiopia had opened its borders to us, something she thanked, but was unable to protect us under the complex conditions within it. He called on humanitarian organizations to find a way out of this catastrophic situation for the Sudanese by evacuating them to a safe area.
According to Reuters, refugees now living outside the camps said people faced regular violence.
A member of the camps leadership committee said: "People have to go to the valley to shower and wash clothes. but they are either robbed, beaten or abducted daily ".
They said, "We are facing catastrophe after catastrophe."
Cholera had spread to Camp Comer, where at least one doctor was available to see patients, several refugees and a relief worker who asked not to be identified. Two refugees told Reuters that the monthly food shipments sent by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) lasted less than two weeks.
Office of the High Commissioner
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number of Sudanese refugees who have emerged from shelter camps at 1,000, while refugee sources say that the number of refugees who have left the camps and reside in forests and roads is twice as high.
According to statistics of the Organizing Committee for Refugees, the number of refugees is divided between:
2133 children
1017 Women
1719 Men
1135 patients
76 with special needs
Speaking to media outlets, UNHCR Nairobi spokesman Asadullah Nasrallah expressed concern about the situation of Sudanese refugees outside the camps and said that they understood the demands of refugees, especially security, as UNHCR sought to coordinate with the Ethiopian authorities to take them to safer areas.
The problem was refugees refusal to return to shelter camps where we could provide services to them.
The statistics indicate that more than 34 thousand Sudanese refugees have crossed Ethiopias borders since the outbreak of the war in Sudan on April 15, 2023, with 20 thousand arriving through the city of Kormuk and others through Galabat.
"We simply ask everyone on both sides (the Refugee Commission and the Ethiopian Government) to come down to the ground and witness what is going on," says one of the organizers of the protests. We have turned to Ethiopia for protection, and we have no capacity or intention to challenge Ethiopias sovereignty. We are not one of the parties to the ongoing conflict in the Sudan, but our victims. We respect Ethiopias sovereignty, including its laws, customs, traditions, culture and people. We just begged and demanded that we protect our lives and those of our children and women. "
