UN hastens aid to 20,000 refugees cut off in Ethiopia

The UN said Friday it was rushing aid to more than 20,000 Sudanese and South Sudanese refugees fleeing clashes in northwestern Ethiopia, where refugee camps have been looted and torched.

The United Nations' refugee agency said fighting broke out on January 18 in the town of Tongo - reportedly between federal forces and unidentified armed groups - in the Benishangul Gumuz region which borders Sudan and South Sudan.

A camp near Tongo hosting 10,300 refugees was looted and burned, UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov told reporters in Geneva.

Another camp in the area had already been looted in late December, he said.

A total of 22,000 people in both camps were then cut off from assistance.

"Access to the area including the two camps - Tongo and Gure-Shembola - remains impossible," said Cheshirkov.

"Over 20,000 refugees made their way over long distances to three different sites closer to Assosa, the regional capital, arriving exhausted and in need of assistance."

UNHCR said it was providing displaced refugees with hot meals, clean water and medical care.

The regional authorities have identified a new temporary site that can accommodate 20,000 people and the UNHCR is working to install shelter, water and latrines to get the site ready to receive refugees.

Meanwhile 70 Sudanese refugees who fled across the border to Sudan's Blue Nile State, are being provided with help.

The situation in Benishangul Gumuz is unrelated to the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, said Cheshirkov.

The UNHCR said its Ethiopia operation needed $335 million this year but was only nine percent funded so far.

Benishangul Gumuz hosts more than 70,000 Sudanese and South Sudanese refugees, and over 500,000 internally-displaced Ethiopians.

The region's three other refugee camps are fully accessible and fully functioning, UNHCR said.