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A refugee in the wind-blown dust in Um Rakuba refugee camp.

Ethnic Tigray, Ethiopian, refugees who fled the central government's military offensive against what is perceived as separatism by the Tigray regional government and its military branch TPLF. When crossing into Sudan the refugees are transferred and settled in Um Rakuba, which was already a site of camps during the 1984 famine.
MSF runs the water supplies and has an emergency clinic in the camp.

SUDAN, Gedaref Region, Eastern border with Ethiopia/Tigray Region. Um Rakuba Camp. 2020/12.

Ethiopia Tigray crisis

A woman - a refugee from Ethiopia in the Um Rakuba refugee camp - tries to protect herself from wind-blown dust. Gedaref region, Sudan, December 2020.
© Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos
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Over a million people have been displaced across Ethiopia and Sudan, and many are without healthcare, following conflict that started in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, in November 2020.

The violence has forced people to leave their homes, with those staying within Ethiopia having to find shelter where they can; while over 63,000 people have walked, sometimes for days, and crossed the Tekeze River to enter Sudan as refugees. Both refugees and the internally displaced are experiencing a lack of food, water and proper shelter. A significant number of health facilities have been attacked and looted, leaving people with a lack of access to healthcare.

MSF teams have responded on both sides of the border. 

Ethiopia Tigray conflict

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