Photo credit: Human rights watch
Recent fighting between Ethiopian government forces and Fano militias in the northwestern Amhara region has put Sudanese refugees in and around camps near the Sudan border at rave risk, according to Human Rights Watch.
Eurasia Review reports that the Ethiopian government should step up the protection of refugees who, for more than a year, have been subjected to abuses and fighting by unidentified gunmen, militias, and, more recently, government forces, according to the body.
Since the outbreak of armed conflict in Sudan in April last year, tens of thousands of Sudanese and other nationals have fled to Ethiopia for refuge. Many initially went to two refugee camps in the Amhara region, where local gunmen and militias carried out killings, beatings, looting, abductions for ransom, and forced labour.
However, in July 2024, Ethiopian and United Nations refugee authorities relocated thousands of refugees to a new camp in Amhara. Since early September, Fano, an Amhara armed group, has clashed with federal forces near refugee sites and occupied some sites, putting refugees at further risk of attack.
Between May and September, Human Rights Watch interviewed twenty Sudanese refugees at three refugee camps and a transit centre in the Amhara region, as well as Sudanese activists and aid workers. It also analyzed satellite imagery of the camps and transit centre, videos, and photographs sent to researchers and posted online. The body then sent its preliminary findings to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Ethiopian government’s Refugee and Returnee Services. It received responses on September 25 and October 8, respectively.
