Displaced Ethiopians await registration in Kenya after fleeing clashes

Thousands of displaced Ethiopians were expected to be registered in the Kenyan border city of Moyale on Monday, after they fled tensions between the leaders of Ethiopia’s Oromia and Somali regions.

The people have received temporary international protection status from UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency. They were waiting to be processed at Al-huda primary school.

Fighting in southern Ethiopia has caused some 50,000 to flee over the border to Kenya as of October 29, according to the UN.

The figure represents a sharp jump from the 36,000 recorded two days before. The number could quickly change given the situation on the ground, according to Fatima Mohammed-Cole, the UNHCR representative for Kenya.

The unrest was sparked on October 20 after a Somali regional flag was hoisted on the Ethiopian side of Moyale, a city jointly administered between Somali and Oromia. Several people have died in clashes, sources told AFP on Saturday.

Many of those who had fled were women and children, Mohammed-Cole said.

“While some are staying with relatives and host communities, others have sought shelter in temporary locations like schools and churches,” she added.

UNHCR has sent an emergency team to the region and is working with the Kenyan government, alongside other humanitarian organisations such as the Red Cross, to provide aid to those displaced.