BFF-35 Sudan’s PM visits Ethiopia amid refugee crisis

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Sudan’s PM visits Ethiopia amid refugee crisis

ADDIS ABABA, Dec 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday
discussed the conflict in Ethiopia with his Sudanese counterpart Abdalla
Hamdok, whose country borders the fighting and hosts 50,000 refugees who
escaped the violence.

It was the first visit by a foreign leader since fighting broke out in
Ethiopia’s Tigray region on November 4, creating a humanitarian crisis.

Thousands have been killed, according to the International Crisis Group,
and just over 50,000 people have fled to Sudan since Abiy ordered troops into
Tigray to to confront the region’s dissident ruling party.

Abiy, winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, said Hamdok expressed
support for the offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)
during face-to-face talks.

“The Sudanese side reiterated their solidarity with the government of
Ethiopia in the law enforcement operations it has been undertaking,” said a
statement from Abiy’s office.

Hamdok, who is in Addis Ababa for two days, also recalled the support Abiy
had extended to Sudan, it added. Accompanied by a large security delegation,
Hamdok said he looked forward to “productive discussions on political,
humanitarian and security matters”.

– Refugee crisis –

The Sudanese premier had urged Abiy to engage in negotiations with the TPLF
when fighting broke out six weeks ago, and encouraged African mediation to
resolve the conflict as it threatened to drag in the wider region.

Abiy has resisted international pressure to end fighting and accept
mediation, saying TPLF leaders needed to be disarmed and apprehended.

On November 28 he declared the conflict over, saying the army had captured
the regional capital Mekele, and has dismissed reports of ongoing clashes as
“sporadic gunfire” not indicative of major combat.

Over the weekend AFP journalists saw trucks of soldiers heading north and
ambulances remain a common sight in southern Tigray and northern Amhara
regions.

Tens of thousands of refugees have crossed the border westward into one of
the most impoverished regions of Sudan, itself one of the world’s poorest
countries.

The influx comes with Sudan undergoing a fragile political transition since
last year’s ouster of president Omar al-Bashir and facing an economic crisis
which has been especially felt in the eastern states of Gedaref and Kassala –
– the main arrival points for refugees escaping Tigray.

Around 170 refugees crossed into Sudan from Tigray on Saturday, according
to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, compared to 1,100 on December 3.

BSS/AFP/RY/19:55hrs