Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 1st Feb. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi on Wednesday has ended a three-day visit to Ethiopia, where he called for more support for 8 million people fleeing the war in Sudan.
According to UN refugee agency, over 100,000 have crossed into Ethiopia since conflict erupted last April between the Sudanese army and a powerful rival military force, the RSF.
UNHCR said that 47,000 people who are refugees and asylum-seekers, in addition to the 50,000 Sudanese refugees already in the country.
Mr. Grandi travelled to the town of Assosa, where he met some of the over 20,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Sudan currently hosted at the Kurmuk transit centre.
“I heard stories of heartbreaking loss of family, friends, homes and livelihoods, yet in the midst of this despair, I also saw refugees’ determination to move forward, if given the support and opportunity,” he said.
He commended the Government and local communities for allocating land and welcoming the arrivals despite their own challenges, including hosting a large refugee population.
The agency said that Ethiopia is one of 6 countries neighboring Sudan that receive thousands of people escaping the conflict in Sudan.
It hosts one of the largest refugee and internally displaced populations globally and is the third largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, UNHCR stated.
UNHCR said one million refugees – mainly from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan have found shelter in Ethiopia, while an estimated 3.5 million Ethiopians are internally displaced.
UNHCR programmes in Ethiopia were half-funded last year, received only 36 per cent of the $431 million requested.
The agency is seeking $426 million to support operations in 2024.
