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  • 3/25/2025
"We never expected to be refugees."

Meanwhile in Sudan, tens of thousands of Ethiopians are fleeing the war that has devastated the Tigray region since early November.
Transcript
00:00We never expected to be refugees, we never expected to see those shelters, we never expected.
00:31There's about 46,000 refugees who have crossed the border in, honestly, about a month's time.
00:39You really, you saw lives interrupted.
00:42We are worried about the situation in Tigray, very worried.
01:12We are worried about the situation in Gurgwadu, in Gurew,
01:24we are worried about the situation in Sarasalam,
01:29we are worried about the situation in Yadna, in Takatatla, in Fallaga, in Ginyal.
01:42We are confident that in a relatively short period of time we will accomplish our objectives
01:52and create a conducive environment for life to return to normalcy for our citizens in Tigray.
01:59Now I'm trying to survive, I'm trying to start life again.
02:13So I hope maybe the world will have to help the people who are suffering here.
02:27Refugees are fleeing from conflict, they are afraid of violence,
02:31they are afraid also to an extent of intercommunal violence,
02:35and I have asked many of them, what is your wish?
02:40Most of them, if not all of them, want to go back, but only if peace prevails and their security is ensured.
02:58This whole crisis has happened very, very quickly.
03:04People were doctors, they're teachers, they're farmers,
03:10and they heard gunshots or heard bombs and they just left.
03:18They took their children and they left.
03:21So you're also seeing a lot of separated families.
03:24There's still a communications blackout, so it's difficult for us to know everything that's happening.
03:30It's difficult for us to be able to confirm various reports and rumors,
03:36but what we do know is that supplies and things like food and water, fuel, cash, they are running out.
03:47And here you have Sudan, which is already facing challenges in transition,
03:53in an area that's remote, that doesn't have a lot of resources,
03:58really working hard to not only take these refugees in,
04:02but set up this camp and find solutions for them while they're here,
04:07until hopefully there's peace enough for them to go home.
04:11It's a very stressful year because the coronavirus has its own impact in our daily life,
04:17in our economy, in our mental health.
04:21And then this war also broke out.
04:23This war also has a great impact on our overall things,
04:29in our health, in our economy, in our daily life.
04:32So those things mixed together make us more stressful.
04:41For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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