Western Ethiopia (Benishangul Gumuz) Fighting Sends Thousands Fleeing to Sudan (VOA English)
Posted: 24 Feb 2021, 09:13
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The U.N. refugee agency reports intercommunal violence in Ethiopia’s Western Benishangul Gumuz region has sent thousands of people fleeing for safety to Sudan’s Blue Nile State in recent weeks.
Insecurity in Ethiopia’s Metekel zone in Benishangul Gumuz region has been ongoing since 2019. However, tensions in the region have rapidly escalated in the past three months.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission reports an estimated 500 people have been killed in the region in the last five months. Of these, it says more than 200 lost their lives in just one day – on December 23.
U.N. refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch says the escalating violence has prompted several thousand people to seek refuge in Sudan’s Blue Nile State over the last month.
“The refugee arrivals itself started in November with a couple of hundred refugees crossing into Sudan. But in the last few weeks, the number has picked up and we now have an estimated 7,000. I mean the stories that refugees are bringing is fleeing attacks from their opponents,” he said.
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Insecurity in Ethiopia’s Metekel zone in Benishangul Gumuz region has been ongoing since 2019. However, tensions in the region have rapidly escalated in the past three months.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission reports an estimated 500 people have been killed in the region in the last five months. Of these, it says more than 200 lost their lives in just one day – on December 23.
U.N. refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch says the escalating violence has prompted several thousand people to seek refuge in Sudan’s Blue Nile State over the last month.
“The refugee arrivals itself started in November with a couple of hundred refugees crossing into Sudan. But in the last few weeks, the number has picked up and we now have an estimated 7,000. I mean the stories that refugees are bringing is fleeing attacks from their opponents,” he said.
Continue reading