Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alert - SUDAN - 1/ 2000 Eritrean refugees flee to Sudan Geneva, 26 May, 2000
By Thursday (25 May), UNHCR had registered 18,000 Eritrean refugees in Gulsa, Gergef and Luffah, along the border, south of Kassala City. It was estimated that the total number might reach 20,000. Tesenay is still controlled by Eritrea, but if it falls, a greater influx of refugees is expected. Most of the refugees say that they wish to return to Eritrea as soon as possible as this is the planting season. Thus if the situation stabilises within 15-20 days, people would still be able to return to plant their fields. Failing this, the World Food Program (WFP) estimates that the refugees would need assistance up to November. WFP is planning for up to 50, 000 refugees. The area were the refugees stay is almost a desert with no facilities. The temperature is high, and access to water is a problem. Response so far: UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF and the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC)/Sudan Red Cresent (SRC) has so far been handling the situation. Shelter, food, water and medical assistance is being provided. International NGO's have not had access to the area until a few days ago, but this is now changing. ACT members the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) Sudan Program are coordinating and working together to address the crisis. A three member assessment team from the SCC Gedaref office and SUDAN AID is in the area to assess the situation. NCA has arranged a meeting with SUDAN AID and SCC to discuss the situation, share information and look at possible responses. NCA Khartoum office is otherwise collecting information and participating in the daily UN/NGO coordination meetings on the situation. An ACT Appeal may be forthcoming. Thank you for your attention. For further information please contact: ACT Co-ordinator, Thor-Arne Prois (phone ++41 22 791 6033 or mobile phone ++ 41 79 203 6055) or ACT Appeals Officer, Neville Pradhan (phone +41 22 791 6035 or mobile phone ++ 41 79 285 2916) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide network of churches and their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ecumenical Centre Phone: ++41-22-791.60.33 150, route de Ferney Fax: ++41-22-791.65.06 1211 Geneva 2 Telex: 415 730 OIK CH Switzerland http://www.act-intl.org distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -