In Ethiopia, Sudanese refugees are ready to return to bombs

29 May 2024

On 1 May, several hundred Sudanese refugees deserted the camps in Ethiopia, where they were surviving in deplorable security and humanitarian conditions. If their request to be redirected to a third country is not heard, they could return to a potential war zone in Sudan. 

Sudanese refugees fleeing the war at home and crossing the border into Ethiopia found themselves in a region that is also at war.

Worse, on 13 May, the rainy season commenced. Quickly, the earth turned into mud, making any movement perilous. Several tents in the Awlala refugee camp, located in Ethiopia, about 70 km from the Sudanese border, collapsed under the weight of water and heavy winds. Fortunately, most of the shelters were empty. 

“The Ethiopian villagers warned us. If we waited for the rainy season, it would be a disaster. We won’t be able to leave anymore,” explains Sudanese refugee Sara Gaffar, from the modest wooden hut that she hastily built with her husband and three children in the middle of the bushes. 

From one war to another 

Receiving no support from Ethiopian authorities, hundreds—possibly even thousands—of Sudanese refugees like Sarah left Awlala and Kumer camps on 1 May, in a desperate bid to make their voices heard. The UN refugee agency claims there are “nearly 1,000 refugees” who left Awlala and Kumer camps and are camped in the forest along the road leaving the camps. But the refugees claim this figure is sixfold, with nearly 6,000 people leaving the camps to protest against the deplorable humanitarian and security conditions. “New families join us every day,” says Abdelsamad Nasr, the elected representative spokesperson for the refugees from Awala. 

Sara Gaffar and Abdelsamad Nasr are among some 9.1 million Sudanese who fled the war after the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commenced a war of political and economic dominance in mid April last year. 

Barely reaching the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the conflict-displaced Sudanese found themselves amidst clashes between the Ethiopian army and Fano militias. Deprived of the Internet, the refugees are essentially cut off from communication and receiving any fiscal support from online banking applications.

Shootings, rapes, kidnappings and looting 

Amidst this rampant insecurity, the Ethiopian authorities mobilised the police to repress the rebellion, leaving the refugees with no protection whatsoever. Instead, poorly armed villagers and militiamen were given the responsibility to protect Awlala Camp, local sources told Ayin. Many incidents have occurred, whether in Awlala or Kumer. “We have been attacked more than 20 times,” says Mohamed Ishaj, a refugee from Khartoum who has spent a year in Kumer Camp, Ethiopia. The ongoing insecurity and poor conditions have forced him to leave the camp, along with hundreds of others who now camp out in Awlala Forest. “In the evening, the militiamen shot at the tents [in Kumer Camp] and stole everything we have—our phones, our money—everything. More than 100 refugees are injured, and 12 have died or disappeared.” Even after refugees left the camps, gunshots continued to be heard in the forest, several refugees told Ayin, as the Fano militia continued to fight with the army and police.

The high number of injuries helped precipitate the exodus from the camps. On 22 April, Amir Mohamed, 18, was shot in the neck while in Awlala Market, a market adjacent to the camp of the same name. “The militia wanted to kill him to steal his phone,” his aunt, Muna Adam, told Ayin. Muna, like Amir, fled Awlala Camp and is now sleeping in a makeshift shelter along the road. The young man was transferred to Gondar Hospital. “He needs to be operated on, but the doctors don’t have the necessary equipment. He would need to be treated in Addis Ababa. But UNHCR does not have the budget to pay for the trip,”  regrets Adam. Refugees also told Ayin of numerous cases of rape, ten in Kumer alone, as well as kidnappings in exchange for ransoms. 

“I would rather go back to Sudan than live here,” says Bannaga Mohammed, formerly a teacher in the capital’s sister-city, Omdurman. Mohammed miraculously escaped an ambush that five bandits set up in October while he was swimming in a river close to Kumer. Beaten up and then left for dead, he can no longer hear in his right ear and moves around with a limp. This forty-year-old from Omdurman, is not the only one considering returning to war-torn Sudan.

The feeling of being held hostage 

Before deserting their tents, the refugees presented an ultimatum to the UNHCR and their Ethiopian colleagues. They demand to be resettled in a third country. Having received no response from either the UN or Ethiopian authorities, the refugees started to walk out of the camp at the beginning of this month. Carrying the injured in wheelbarrows, the refugees planned to reach the UNHCR regional headquarters in Gondar, roughly 170 km away, several refugees told Ayin. The police, however, soon stopped them, and now they are stuck homeless along the roadside. With no options, the refugees decided to return to Sudan despite warnings from Ethiopian authorities that no group movements towards the border are allowed. Only individual travel is permitted, which refugees refuse out of fear for their safety.

“We don’t want to break the rules of the country. But we have the feeling of being taken hostage,” Nasr said. “If the authorities do not open the road, we will return to our country at all costs, even if the police shoot at us.” The stark realities faced by the refugees are even clear to the children. “My 15-year-old son told me: ‘If we die, we want to die in Sudan.’ Indeed, no one will take care of our bodies if we die here,” adds Sara Gaffar.

Local residents reportedly prevented from helping refugees 

The only positive point, Gaffar says, is that the federal police forces have finally been deployed since their departure from the camp. But supplies saved during the World Food Program’s last distribution last month are running out, while water is becoming scarce. “The police beat villagers who wanted to sell us water. They also forbade them from giving us cookies for the children. I think this order comes from Ethiopian authorities who hope to encourage us to return to the camp,” confides Gaffar.

UNHCR told Ayin that they are aware of allegations that authorities have prevented local residents from supporting them but cannot confirm these claims. “Local authorities ensure the security [of refugees who have left the camps],” said UNHCR Associate Communications Officer Lucrezia Vittori. The UN refugee agency and World Vision International have deployed a mobile clinic and provided food and water in Awlala Camp, allowing families to travel back and forth to access them, Vittori added. “Efforts continue to convince the group to return to the camp.” Repeated attempts for comment to the Ethiopian counterpart, the Refugee and Returnee Service, were left unanswered. 

A hunger strike 

Prevented from reaching Gondar with no response to their demands, the refugees started a hunger strike last week. “I have diabetes, but I’m going to try to stop eating if that’s the only way the world will see us,” Gaffar told Ayin. The hunger strike has continued up until today. Refugees leave any remaining food for children, pregnant women, the disabled, and the elderly. “Even if the World Food Program delivers food to us, we will not eat until we are redirected to another country or allowed to return to Sudan,” concludes Nasr. He added that the militiamen continue to roam the area, forcing them to dig shelters to protect themselves from bullets.

An Ethiopian humanitarian source reveals, on condition of anonymity, that the 500 to 600 residents remaining in Awlala will soon be redirected to Kumer Camp, where police forces are now on duty day and night. 

But even if security improves, the refugees fear they may die from illness instead of bullets. “Within a week, the situation will turn into a tragedy,” said Mohamed Hamid, a camp resident now living in the bush. Children have diarrhoea, and the threat of cholera looms. Five women gave birth in the bush and are unable to breastfeed, Hamid added. Hamid does not rule out the idea of returning to Sudan, where the battles rage. “We are already dying. We might as well die trying to defend our rights as refugees and as human beings.”