“Urgent appeal” launched for war displaced

The Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC) on Tuesday claimed that “58,000 Eritreans have been expelled from Ethiopia while 250,000 Eritreans have been internally displaced, becoming entirely dependent on emergency relief assistance” as a result of the conflict. A commission statement bemoaned the “low response” by external agencies to Eritrea’s need for food, shelter, health supplies and facilities, and said “much of the response to the emergency relief needs was covered from government sources, borrowing and diversion of funds from other programmes.” The government, disappointed with this response, has suggested extending the appeal beyond those donors present in Asmara, according to humanitarian sources. ERREC has also issued an additional “urgent appeal” for US$ 3.1 million to cover “short-term expenses” in relation to receiving and settling deportees.