Ethiopian refugees fleeing clashes in the country’s northern Tigray region cross the border into Hamdayet, Sudan. Credit: UNHCR/Hazim Elhag

Daily Noon Briefing Highlights – 25 November 2020

Ethiopia

OCHA continues to receive reports of people fleeing Mekelle in Ethiopia in search of safety.

Violence and insecurity are also increasing in other regions of Ethiopia after the relocation of security forces to Tigray, with several reports of clashes and attacks in other places.

More than 95,000 people are estimated to be newly displaced in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNP), following clashes reported last week.

Food, water and shelter are urgently needed in SNNP region, as most of the displaced people are in open spaces after public buildings, schools and facilities were reportedly burned in recent violence.

Nearly 42,000 people have now crossed the border to Sudan.

The UN and humanitarian partners have finalized their refugee response plan [Inter-Agency Refugee Emergency Response Plan – Refugee Influx from Ethiopia] seeking US$147 million to help a projected 100,000 refugees between November and June 2021.

The Sudan Humanitarian Fund allocated an initial $425,000 to people’s most immediate needs for health, water, sanitation and hygiene in Um Raquba Camp, Gedaref, in east Sudan.

Additional allocations are to be announced in the coming days.