麻豆约拍

For six weeks now, four refugee camps sheltering Eritreans inside Ethiopia's Tigray province have been completely cut off from the outside world.

The people living there are Eritreans who fled their own highly repressive government, only to find themselves caught up in the recent fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and Tigrayan soldiers.

Now, a team from the UNHCR has been allowed to visit two of the camps in the south of Tigray on a fact-finding mission. Two other camps nearer the northern border can still not been accessed by aid agencies.

One of those who spoke to the refugees was Chris Melzer, spokesman for the UNHCR in Ethiopia. He was told of attacks by armed gangs and people having to scavenge for food.

"For about two months there was no food, there was no clean water... they had no schools, and also the medical facilities were closed. They felt totally abandoned."

(Photo: Children in the Adi Harush refugee camp, one of the camps visited by UNHCR. Credit: UNHCR)

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