Stories of survival


Mihret recalls the commotion and confusion that ensued as the sound of gunfire and bombs tore through the air. “I saw crowds everywhere. Everyone was running to save themselves and their children. The roads were filled with people pushing each other.”


After violence erupted in her hometown of Tigray, Mihret hid in the bush for days without food or water to escape the conflict. Mihret, found safety in eastern Sudan with her younger brother, aunt and cousins. “So many people, our friends and our families died back there and on the way. I am happy we survived.”


The civil engineer is parlaying her skills in a volunteer role as a site supervisor in the camp. Mihret is working with UNHCR and other agencies to oversee the establishment of the mobile office base in the settlement.


Berhane escaped with very little when he fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. After arriving at Sudan’s Tunaydbah camp he looked for a way to make a living. Without the means to start a business, he found a job at a small mill where he earns enough to support his family.


Sudan has welcomed refugees and asylum seekers for decades and many host communities often share what little they have with newly arrived families like Berhane’s.


Eritrean refugee Mizan (left) had been living in Shimelba camp in Tigray since 2014. The conflict in the region forced her to flee to Addis Ababa. Mizan is now registered in the Ethiopian capital where she lives with her two younger siblings, Kibrom and Elen (also pictured).


They are also receiving support to open a bank account which UNHCR will use to provide a one-off cash assistance payment to cover their immediate needs.


By the Numbers:


• Over 1.7 million people displaced by the conflict in Tigray


• Over 63,000 refugees from Ethiopia in Sudan


• 96,000 Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia


• 400,000 people in Tigray have “crossed the threshold into famine” — with another 1.8 million on the brink


Thanks to your support, UNHCR is:


• Providing core relief items including blankets, sleeping mats, hygiene kits, jerry cans and kitchen sets to refugees in Sudan


• Scaling up mental health and psychosocial support programming in the camps in Sudan


• Distributing vital aid including blankets, mosquito nets, solar lamps,


soap and jerry cans to displaced families in different sites across Tigray


• Working to rehabilitate existing public infrastructure to be used as communal shelters


• Advocating with the Ethiopian government to allow temporary residency and to provide assistance


to Eritrean refugees who fled Tigray 5


© UNHCR/Ahmed Kwarte


© UNHCR/Ahmed Kwarte


© UNHCR/Olga Sarrado Mur


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