Thousands forced to flee as violence erupts in the Tigray region, Ethiopia

Dear John,

This year, you have no doubt become accustomed to rapidly changing situations and uncertainty but take a moment to imagine how you would feel now if electricity, phone and the internet all suddenly went down. If roads were blocked, banking services halted, and you had no way of getting fuel or even food. If fighting would move closer and closer to your home.

This is the situation for many people in Ethiopia right now, who have been enduring a week of violent clashes between federal and regional forces in the Tigray region.

Thousands of people, fearing for their lives and the lives of their families, have been forced to flee into Sudan. Over 14,500 have fled in just a few days. Most of them are children. Lifesaving assistance is now urgently needed.

Refugees arrived exhausted and scared and are being sheltered in transit centres near the border. Water and meals are being provided and UNHCR and the Sudanese authorities are working around the clock to set up a new refugee site to shelter them. But we urgently need to scale up our supplies so that we are ready to respond as the situation worsens.

Thank you

Astrid van Genderen Stort
UNHCR Head of Emergencies and Communications, PSP