UN appeals for urgent funding to address ''full-scale humanitarian'' emergency

The United Nations is calling for urgent funds to address a humanitarian emergency for tens of thousands of Ethiopian refugees. These refugees have fled conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region to neighboring Sudan for safety, as the agency again requests full access to the embattled region.

"Currently, many refugees remain in overcrowded conditions without proper facilities and there continues to be a shortage of medicines and other supplies. We have seen a huge demand for family tracing and reunification, education and for child-friendly spaces and nutritional programmes", said Andrej Mahecic, UNHCR spokesperson.

On Tuesday, the global body appealed for 156 million dollars. So far only 30 percent of the funds that is 46 million dollars have been received. The funding would help the partners "meet the immense humanitarian needs in eastern Sudan''.

"The critical activities include registration, documentation, ensuring civilian character of asylum, decongesting of the border site areas, transferring refugees to the new settlements, provision of food, health and education services, support for groups with specific needs particularly for women and girls at risk, unaccompanied minors, the disabled and the elderly", Mahecic added.

Over the last six weeks more than 52,000 refugees have fled Tigray to a remote area in neighboring Sudan, the UN said.

The figure does not include 96,000 Eritrean refugees, already in Tigray before the fighting begun. There're fears they’re running low on food.