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Sudan Situation Report, 7 Jan 2020

2021-01-07 21:48:14 Written by  reliefweb.int Published in English Articles Read 1275 times
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Situation Report Source 

 Posted 7 Jan 2021 Originally published 7 Jan 2021 Origin View original

HIGHLIGHTS

  • UNHCR and COR have registered over 56,000 Ethiopian refugees, relocation of refugees to new site Tunaydbah starts.

  • About US$40 million has been pledged to UNHCR for the regional response to refugees from Tigray - 37 per cent of the requirements in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.

  • Despite the ongoing harvest, sorghum and millet prices atypically increased between October and December across most main production and consumption markets - FEWS NET.

  • In urban centres, poor families are likely to have below-average food access through May 2021 due to the extremely high food prices limiting household purchasing power – FEWS NET.

  • Humanitarians assisted 8.8 million people across Sudan between January and September 2020 - HRP Quarter 3 Monitoring Report.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

New site starts receiving Ethiopian refugees from Tigray

Key figures:

  • 56,548 refugees registered (6 January, UNHCR)

  • 23,177 refugees relocated from Hamdayet and Abdrafi and Village 8 to Um Raquba and Tunaydbah refugee camps

  • $157 million needed to respond to the urgent needs of up to 115,000 refugees and 22,000 host communities in Sudan and Djibouti up to June 2021. So far, $40 million has been pledged

Situation

Since 9 November, Ethiopian asylum seekers have been arriving in eastern Sudan, fleeing a military escalation in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. Refugees are arriving in three locations along the border with Ethiopia in eastern Sudan,
Hamdayet in Kassala State, Ludgi and Abderafi in Gedaref State and to a lesser extent into Wad Al Mahi locality in Blue Nile State. Refugees arrive exhausted from their long trek, with few belongings and need assistance.
The Government of Sudan has kept its borders open to the refugee and hosting communities are supporting and sharing their resources with the new refugee arrivals. UNHCR and the Government’s Commission for Refugees (COR) are taking the lead on preparedness and response.

Response

UNHCR continues to register new refugee arrivals at the Sudanese-Ethiopian border. Some 800 people crossed from Ethiopia’s Tigray region into eastern Sudan in just the first few days of the new year. Since early November, more than 56,000 Ethiopian refugees have fled to neighbouring Sudan.
Latest arrivals tell of being caught in the conflict and being victims of various armed groups, facing perilous situations including looting of their houses, forceful recruitment of men and boys, sexual violence against women and girls.
Refugees are arriving with little more than the clothes on their backs, fatigued and in weak conditions after sometimes days of travel. More than 30 per cent of them are estimated to be under 18 and 5 per cent over 60 years old.
In support of the government-led response in Sudan, UNHCR and Sudan’s Commission for Refugees (COR) continue to relocate the refugees from the arrival locations at the border to the designated refugee camps, further inland in Sudan’s Gedaref State.
With the Um Rakuba refugee camp approaching its full capacity, UNHCR and its partners are striving to swiftly relocate refugees from reception sites at the border to a second, newly opened refugee camp, Tunaydbah, in order to keep refugees safe and offer them better living conditions.
The new site is located some 136km from Gedaref town. As of 6 January, 2,605 refugees were relocated to Tunaydbah camp, according to the latest Ethiopia Situation - Daily New Arrivals Update from UNHCR Sudan. Hamdayet and Village 8 reception sites are overcrowded, and their close location to the border putting the safety and security of refugees increasingly at risk.
Upon arrival to Tunaydbah, hot meals are being provided and 1,000 tents, aimed at sheltering up to 5,000 people, have so far been set up by partners. More tents are being pitched as the relocation is set to progress in the coming days and weeks.
UNHCR, COR, and partners are scaling up their response to meet the needs of the increasing refugee population in all locations. Currently, more than 20 humanitarian partners are on the ground in Um Rakuba and another six are starting their activities in Tunaydbah to assist and engage the refugee and host community with shelter, health, food and nutrition services.
Once more, the Government of Sudan is generously keeping its border open to refugees, but additional support is needed to complement the authorities’ response. In particular, it is critical to further improve water and sanitation conditions in the refugee camps and reception areas, as well as to ramp up COVID-19 prevention measures, including isolation facilities. Additional funding is also required to sustain shelter projects and improve the living conditions of refugees in the camps, especially in anticipation of the next rainy season expected to start in May.
On 22 December, UNHCR and partners launched the Regional Refugee Preparedness and Response Plan for the Ethiopia Situation (Tigray). The plan covers the period from November 2020 through to June 2021 and foresees to reach up to 115,000 refugees and 22,000 host communities in Sudan and Djibouti.
As at the end of 2020, US$40 million has been pledged to UNHCR for the regional response to the emergency in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which covers only 37 per cent of the financial requirements in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.
For more details on response and gaps please visit the UNHCR Sudan refugee situation operational portal.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.
Last modified on Thursday, 07 January 2021 22:52