Thousands of Eritrean refugees living in two camps to in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are in desperate need for basic supplies, the UN’s refugee agency has told the BBC.

Many had fled conscription and political persecution in neighbouring Eritrea but then fighting broke out in Tigray in early November between federal troops and forces loyal to the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

The UNHCR has regained access to two camps, Mai Aini and Adi Harsush, for Eritrean refugees in Tigray.

Infrastructure in the camps was “almost intact; there are no shelters destroyed; the schools are still there… but there are no doctors, or teachers and the water system is not running”, the UNHCR’s Chris Melzer told the BBC.

He said there were currently around 25,000 Eritrean refugees in the two camps – significantly fewer people than when the conflict started two months ago. Many are believed to have fled the area.

Providing food and clean water are priorities, Mr Melzer said.

“For the past two and half months they have been using water out of a river close to the camps for cooking, washing and drinking which is why diarrhoea is very common there,” he said

These two camps are not in places that saw heavy fighting.

Despite repeated pleas, the UNHCR has not been granted access to two other camps, Shimelba and Hitsat, in the northern part of Tigray nearer to the Eritrean border.

Close to 100,000 Eritrean refugees were in the four camps before the conflict.

Source: BBC