World Food Program (WFP) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in collaboration with Ethiopian Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA) have distributed month’s worth of food supplies to 25,000 Eritrean refugees in Tigray, APA reported on Tuesday.
In coordination with Federal authorities, a convoy of 18 trucks delivered nearly 250 metric tons of corn soya blend, grains, pulses and vegetable oil to local humanitarian partners for distribution to 13,000 Eritrean refugees in Mai Ayni camp.
Another nearly 240 metric tons of food were delivered to Adi Harush refugee camp to support 12,170 refugees there. WFP, UNHCR and ARRA provided monitoring support during both distributions.
Distributions began shortly after the food reached the camps, organized by ARRA, with support from WFP and UNHCR.
Early this month, Ethiopia’s government said it was returning Eritrean refugees to camps they had fled in the northern region of Tigray, a move that alarmed the United Nations refugee agency after a month-long conflict that is believed to have killed thousands of people.
The United Nations and other aid agencies said they had been denied access to some 96,000 refugees in Tigray since fighting erupted on Nov. 4, 2020 between the government and a rebellious regional force.
Addis Ababa claimed the situation of refugees in restive Tigray region has returned to normal.
MG/abj/APA