Video Player is loading.
Advertisement
Current Time 0:00
Duration -:-
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -:-
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
        UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Tigray Camps Update - UNHCR
        /
        3:16
        /
        MP4
        /
        247.9 MB

        Edited News | UNHCR

        UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Tigray Camps Update - UNHCR

        UN humanitarians reported on Friday that aid teams have reached two camps for Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region for the first time since fighting began in November, only to find them destroyed and the former occupants “scattered”.

        UN refugee agency (UNCHR) spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov told reporters in Geneva that all the humanitarian facilities at the Shimelba and Hitsats refugee camps in the northern Ethiopian region were “looted and vandalised”.

        The mission, conducted jointly by UNHCR and the UN humanitarian coordination wing OCHA, found that most shelters in the Hitsats camp, as well as the UN offices and the staff guest house had been "burned to the ground”.

        This confirmed what satellite imagery and accounts from refugees had already indicated, Mr. Cheshirkov added, although he did not have information about who was responsible.

        The joint mission had also managed to visit Shiraro town, where refugees were believed to be scattered and "in urgent need of safety and support”.

        A subsequent mission will aim to identify the numbers living in the area and determine whether UNHCR and the Ethiopian Agency for Refugees and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) could deliver aid there and work out plans for voluntary relocation.

        “UNHCR is deeply concerned for the well-being of the Eritrean refugees who had been residing there, all of whom have fled the camps,” Mr. Cheshirkov added.

        Around 20,000 refugees had been living in the two camps prior to the crisis erupting last November, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military campaign in Tigray after accusing the region's governing party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), of attacks on army camps.

        The latest developments come amid ongoing calls from senior UN officials to end the fighting, as well as an announcement on Thursday by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that it is launching a probe into alleged serious abuses and rights violations by all parties to the conflict.

        President Abiy took to Twitter on Friday to say that the Eritrean Government had agreed to pull its troops out of Tigray. Ethiopian forces will take over guarding the border areas “effective immediately”, he said.

        Mr. Cheshirkov said that more than 7,000 former residents of the two camps have either “made their own way or were assisted by Ethiopian authorities to reach the other two Eritrean refugee camps, Mai Aini and Adi Harush”.

        He added that UNHCR had also been in contact with more than 2,000 refugees from Hitsats and Shimelba in Shire, Mekelle, Afar, and Addis Ababa.

        “All of the displaced people in Shiraro and Shimelba are in dire need of urgent life-saving assistance, including food, shelter, health care, water and sanitation”. he said.

        In a statement, the UN refugee agency reiterated its urgent call for "the free and safe movement of affected people in search of safety and assistance” to be enabled by all parties, including movement "across international and within national borders, regardless of their ethnic identification".

        Mr. Cheshirkov added that the agency is planning further missions and “have already started to deploy more staff in the Tigray region”.

        To do so, the UNHCR spokesperson noted that “the funding needs are mounting so we do appeal for more support on this situation, both inside Ethiopia but also for those who are now in Sudan”.

        Similar Stories

        Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani  urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OHCHR

        Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts ENG FRA

        UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject a bill that was recently endorsed by parliament allowing trials of civilians in military courts. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Amendment Bill 2025, which was passed on 20 May and now awaits presidential signature to become law, among others broadens the jurisdiction of military courts, authorising them to try a wide range of offences against civilians.

        UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OHCHR

        UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech ENG FRA

        UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan at the bi-weekly briefing in Geneva.

        Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OCHA , WHO

        Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025 ENG FRA

        Syria: ‘Staggering’ needs amid insecurity, health care crisis  - UN humanitarians

        Millions of people in Syria continue to face mortal danger from unexploded munitions, disease and malnutrition and urgent support is required, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

        Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | UNRWA , OCHA , WHO

        Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO ENG FRA

        UN life-saving aid allowed to trickle into Gaza as civilian needs mount

        Amid calls for more humanitarian trucks to enter the food and medicine-deprived Palestinian enclave of Gaza, UN humanitarians have received permission from Israel for “around 100” more aid trucks to cross into the Strip after only five were let in yesterday,  But the scale of relief efforts allowed remains entirely insufficient to meet the urgent needs of people there, humanitarian workers say.

        Press vests becoming a target - war reporter Christina Assi

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News

        Press vests becoming a target - war reporter Christina Assi ENG FRA

        A war reporter from Lebanon who lost a limb in the line of duty is calling for an end to impunity for attacks against journalists.

        ITU 160th Anniversary - 17 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | ITU

        ITU 160th Anniversary - 17 May 2025 ENG FRA

        The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) commemorated 160 years dedicated to connecting the world on Saturday, 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland, during the annual World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

        Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | WHO , OCHA

        Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025 ENG FRA

        Gazans ‘in terror’ after another night of deadly strikes and siege

        Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza into Friday killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas and pleaded for the blockade to end.

        UN Human Rights raises human rights concerns about deportations from the United States of America

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

        UN Human Rights raises human rights concerns about deportations from the United States of America ENG FRA

        Deportations over recent months of large numbers of non-nationals from the United States of America, especially to countries other than those of their origin, raise a number of human rights concerns, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned on Tuesday.   

        Gaza health update - WHO

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | WHO

        Gaza health update - WHO ENG FRA

        Gaza: Over 50 child malnutrition deaths amid aid blockade; entire generation will be ‘permanently affected’ - WHO

        In the aid desert of Gaza, malnourished children are dying while survivors can expect a lifetime of dire health problems, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

        Gaza aid update - UNICEF, UNRWA, WHO 09 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | WHO , UNICEF , UNRWA

        Gaza aid update - UNICEF, UNRWA, WHO 09 May 2025 ENG FRA

        Israel’s aid plan will force Gaza families to choose ‘between displacement and death’ – UN humanitarians

        Israel’s plan to take control of relief assistance in Gaza risks increasing the suffering of families already exhausted by 18 months of war by putting their lives in danger and inciting more displacement, using aid as “bait”, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

        Gaza humanitarian blockade  OCHA - WHO

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OCHA , WHO

        Gaza humanitarian blockade OCHA - WHO ENG FRA

        UN Humanitarians reject Israeli plan to take over aid delivery

        The reported Israeli proposal to deliver humanitarian supplies through hubs controlled by the military would be a breach of the core principles of neutral, impartial and independent aid delivery, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Tuesday.

         

        Gaza two months blockade - OCHA 02 MAY 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News , B-roll | OCHA

        Gaza two months blockade - OCHA 02 MAY 2025 ENG FRA

        Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA

        Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.

        /Includes OCHA footage from Gaza City/