MAJOR violations of international law have been committed in two refugee camps in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, the United Nations said on Thursday as access to the area remained cut off.

Satellite images showed fires burning and fresh signs of destruction at the Shimelba and Hitsats camps, which house people who have fled political persecution and military conscription in neighbouring Eritrea.

Most of the camps’ residents arrived before Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a brutal military offensive against Tigray in November.