Some 25,000 people have fled Sudan's troubled Blue Nile
state to Ethiopia in the last three weeks amid fighting between the Sudanese
army and rebels, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday.
"Since 3 September, when the influx into Ethiopia
started, an estimated 25,000 refugees have found refuge in Ethiopia," said
Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
"With hostilities still ongoing in Sudan's Blue Nile
State, we expect the numbers to continue rising," he added, pointing out
that aerial bombings were reported on two days last week and on Monday.
Together with three other agencies, the UNHCR issued a joint
appeal for $18.3 million (14 million euros) to help an expected 35,000
refugees.
Many had crossed over to Ethiopia from the Kurmuk border
point, and are sleeping in the open in villages close to the check point.
With bombings occurring close by, Edwards said the UNHCR and
the Ethiopian government are working to move the refugees to safer locations.
About 3,000 people have so far been moved to the Sherkole
camp, about 50 kilometres southeast, while the Ethiopian government is building
two transit centres near the key border entry points to host newcomers.
Khartoum is engaged in military operations against rebel
movements in three separate regions along Sudan's volatile border with the
south, which gained full independence on July 9.
The conflict in South Kordofan state erupted just one month
before southern secession, between the Sudanese army and Nuba militiamen who
fought with the SPLA, the former rebel army of the south, during their
decades-long war with the north.
The fighting spilled into nearby Blue Nile state at the
beginning of this month, as the government moved to assert its authority within
its new borders.
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