UNHCR to airlift supplies to Eritrean IDPs

The UNHCR said on Tuesday that it was preparing an airlift of non-food relief items directly to Eritrea to assist the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting. The agency, which usually assists refugees (who have crossed an international border), also provides aid to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in extreme circumstances. The airlift,
which could start next week, would include water tankers and trucks from the agency's operation in Kosovo. A WFP spokesperson told IRIN that the relief operation was being severely hampered by a shortage of trucks needed to bring supplies from Asmara to the camps for the displaced, Many roads, moreover, were expected to become impassable when the expected rains come in about two weeks' time. UNHCR's Asmara office reported that the huge numbers of internally displaced was having an impact on the
general population in many areas and that the condition of many IDPs was worsening, despite efforts by the local population and aid agencies to help them. There were new population displacements around Assab with many IDPs moving north away from the fighting. UNHCR was purchasing salt, sanitary supplies, kitchen sets, bedding and other relief items on the local market for distribution by the end of the week.