Nowhere to go
Sudan’s civil war forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their country. Some fled to Ethiopia – but their respite was short-lived.
Mukanzi Musanga
Earlier this month, armed men attacked the Aftit refugee camp in Ethiopia’s Amhara region. “One person was shot in the leg and the other one took a bullet to the back which exited through his belly,” a camp resident told The Continent.
The gunmen stole more than 100 mobile phones. The injured people did not receive immediate medical care, because there were no ambulances nearby. The roads to and from the camp are considered unsafe.
This is merely the latest in a litany of attacks against this community of refugees, who fled the civil war in Sudan hoping to find refuge in Ethiopia. Instead, they have experienced repeated incidents of murder, sexual assault, abduction, theft and natural disaster. Another resident predicted more attacks were coming.
When Sudan’s war broke out in 2023, about 12,500 Sudanese people crossed into Ethiopia. Initially, they were sheltered in the Awlala and Kumer refugee camps. But Ethiopia was experiencing its own conflict: Amhara militias, known as the Fano, had turned against their former government allies. As the fighting intensified, refugees became easy targets.
Conditions in the camps became so dangerous that the refugees fled again, this time into a nearby forest. They were subsequently relocated by the United Nations Refugee Agency to the new site in Aftit – where things are scarcely better.
“I’m afraid for my children and my wife,” said Ibrahim Yousif. He has already lost two daughters, swept away by flooding in Awlala in September 2023.
The refugee agency said it continued “to advocate with authorities for heightened support, including the deployment of security personnel in and around” the refugee camps – not only to protect the people but also to facilitate the safe delivery of essential services by international aid agencies.