Thousands Escaping Conflict in Sudan Arrive in Ethiopia to Uncertain Future

Metema, Ethiopia — A small river separates Metema Yohannes, a town in northwest Ethiopia on the border with Sudan, and the Sudanese settlement of Gallabat across the border. Ethiopian and Sudanese flags, which stand on either side of the river’s bridge, flutter in the wind.

Over 20,000 people escaping the recent violence in Sudan, have crossed this bridge on foot over the past month, heading to an uncertain future.

The peaceful but dusty little Ethiopian town of Metema is buzzing with activity as families and individuals fleeing Sudan in search of safety continue to arrive. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the arrivals include a mix of Ethiopian returnees, Sudanese refugees and so-called third country nationals from over fifty countries.

People coming from Sudan cross the bridge into Ethiopia from Gallabat, fatigued and sometimes bewildered, and are met by guides who direct them to a series of registration points where their details are collected.

The temperature of all arriving individuals is taken to screen for illness by an IOM emergency health staff member, while details of their origin, intended destination and nationality are recorded before they are guided to other partners’ desks for further support.

“There have been over a thousand arrivals per day over the past several weeks, with the past few days registering the first decline from this figure as around 600 people are coming into Ethiopia daily,” says Besufekad Assefa, IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Field Programme Assistant. “This may be due to the recent intensification of fighting in Khartoum, which could have slowed departures from the city, and the hike in transport costs, which makes it difficult for large families and those without access to cash to easily pay for the trip.”

Besufekad recalls an emotional encounter with an Ethiopian man who wept as he explained how his wife was killed in Khartoum. He was returning with his three young children to Ethiopia’s Oromia Region.

A group of 148 Somali nationals who in April passed through IOM’s Transit Centre in Addis Ababa on their way to Somalia were among the first to arrive in Ethiopia from Sudan through Metema. They described terrifying violence, perilous escapes from Khartoum, and the long journey to the Ethiopian border before their embassy liaised with IOM to help them continue onward to Addis Ababa by bus.

Over the past few weeks, several embassies and consulates have been reaching out to IOM to assist their stranded citizens, although around 96 per cent of daily arrivals at Metema recently are mainly Ethiopian, Sudanese and Eritrean, according to IOM.

IOM is one of the few humanitarian organisations that has been working in Metema since massive waves of people began to stream into Ethiopia from Sudan in mid-April. The Organization has 21 staff in Metema conducting flow monitoring registry, arrival assistance, medical screenings and referrals, providing food and other essential items, registering people for referral to additional services by partners, and organizing transportation to their final destinations.

Since 2014, IOM has been providing life-saving assistance and support such as food, water, medicine, and referrals for other help, to migrants traveling through this remote border point.

Among the services provided to migrants crossing the border between Ethiopia and Sudan is the administration of COVID-19 vaccinations by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI). IOM medical personnel, together with EPHI teams, conduct medical and nutritional screening for children and pregnant and lactating mothers while providing referral support when needed.

Thanks to new latrines and showers, people can freshen up after their long journeys, before continuing onward to their final destinations, with IOM organizing transportation by bus and plane.

As people await the next leg of their journey, some can be seen carrying their bags to the buses outside. 21-year-old Ahmedin Diga, returning to Ethiopia from Sudan, is among them. “For the past five years, I owned a hair salon in Khartoum’s Bahari district. I left everything I owned when I fled the fighting in Khartoum. It is so heart breaking, and I don’t know where to begin but thankfully I’m still alive.”

Mohammed Qasem, an Afghan refugee, was a media student at the International University of Africa (IUA) in Khartoum and ran a small photography and videography studio with his Sudanese friend and business partner near the campus.

“Life is funny, I escaped the turmoil in Afghanistan in 2016 and now I have to flee again,” he says.

Nearby, people carrying luggage, weary from their exhausting and arduous travels, continue to trudge across the bridge to safety.