UNHCR Concerned 24,000 Eritrean Refugees In Tigray Deprived Of Aid - Spokesman

The United Nations expressed its concern about the fate of some 24,000 Eritrean refugees trapped in camps in the Tigray region and cut off from essential humanitarian assistance, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Babar Baloch said on Tuesday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2021) The United Nations expressed its concern about the fate of some 24,000 Eritrean refugees trapped in camps in the Tigray region and cut off from essential humanitarian assistance, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Babar Baloch said on Tuesday.

"An estimated 24,000 Eritrean refugees in Mai Aini and Adi Harush camps in Tigray's Mai Tsebri area are facing intimidation and harassment and living in constant anguish, cut off from humanitarian assistance," Baloch said during a press briefing.

For the last two weeks, United Nations staff has lost access to both camps, where clean drinking water is running out, and the last food distribution, providing rations for one month, was done in June, Baloch said.

In addition, the main humanitarian supply road between Semera in the Afar region and Mekelle in Tigray has been completely blocked since July 18, preventing UNHCR and other agencies' aid supplies from leaving Semera, Baloch said.

The UN refugee agency also received credible information that at least one refugee in Mai Aini was killed by armed elements operating in the camp, Baloch added.

Meanwhile, armed confrontations taking place close to the locations in the Afar region where refugees are hosted, risk to displace an additional 55,000 people, according.