DATE=7/13/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N / HORN OF AFRICA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264387
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The U-N Refugee Agency says it is facing a
crisis in the Horn of Africa, where hundreds-of-
thousands of refugees and internally displaced people
are in urgent need of assistance. Lisa Schlein in
Geneva has this report.
TEXT: The U-N Refugee Agency says the Horn of Africa,
which is severely affected by drought, is facing a new
humanitarian crisis. It says the recent war between
Ethiopia and Eritrea drove nearly 100-thousand
Eritreans into Sudan, Djibouti, and Yemen.
It says the war also has made about one-million people
inside Eritrea homeless. To help care for all these
people, the refugee agency is appealing for 23 million
U-S dollars to run its humanitarian program until the
end of the year.
Delphine Marie of the U-N-H-C-R says hundreds of
thousands of uprooted people lack sufficient shelter
and assistance. She says an estimated 94-thousand
refugees who fled to neighboring Sudan are facing
harsh conditions.
/// MARIE ACT ///
Sudan is a very hot country, so we have had
temperatures of more than 40-degrees for the
past few months. Now the rainy season is
arriving. It is starting now and it is going to
increase very rapidly. The rains are going to
get more intense. People are in urgent need of
shelter. The other problem that we are facing
is water and sanitation. The camps are very
makeshift at the moment and they need to be
improved.
/// END ACT ///
The U-N Refugee Agency has sent one-thousand plastic
sheets to Sudan. And, it is in the process of
constructing more substantial shelters with wood poles
and sheeting to keep out the rain and wind. The
agency expects many of the refugees will return home
as soon as possible. It says this will add to the
displacement problem within Eritrea.
Ms. Marie says many of the returnees will not be able
to go back to their homes immediately because some
regions in southwestern Eritrea are occupied by
Ethiopian forces. She says they will have to remain
in camps in Eritrea until the situation eases. She
says this is the first time the agency has launched
such a massive program for internally displaced people
in the Horn of Africa.
/// 2ND MARIE ACT ///
The conflicts in Africa have spread over the
whole continent in such a serious manner, that
we now have to deal with a lot of people who are
internally displaced. They do not necessarily
cross the border. But, that does not mean that
they do not have very urgent needs as other
refugees.
/// END ACT ///
Ms. Marie says aid workers are looking at sites in
Eritrea to set up new camps for returning refugees.
She says the agency also is trying to improve water
and sanitation equipment in existing, dilapidated
camps. (SIGNED)
NEB/LS/GE/RAE
13-Jul-2000 09:28 AM EDT (13-Jul-2000 1328 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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