UN refugee agency appeals for urgent support to ease Ethiopia's crisis

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, together with 30 humanitarian partners, on Tuesday appealed for 156 million US dollars to meet "the critical humanitarian needs" of Ethiopian refugees fleeing the Tigray conflict through the first half of 2021.

The urgent financial appeal is also expected to strengthen the preparedness to receive refugees in other countries in the region in case of further refugee movements, said a statement from the UN refugee agency, quoting its spokesperson Andrej Mahecic at a Tuesday press briefing in Geneva.

Weeks of fights in northern Ethiopia's Tigray regional state between the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Ethiopian Defense Forces have reportedly left hundreds of people dead, thousands displaced, and millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

More than 52,000 refugees have fled Tigray into eastern Sudan over the past six weeks, according to the UN refugee agency.

(ANI)

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