the u.n refugee agency has appealed to
ethiopia for
access to 96 000 eritrean refugees
in the northern tigre region there are
concerns of possible food shortage
following reports of attacks abductions
and forced recruitments of refugees
meanwhile their nearly month-long war
has displaced thousands of people into
neighboring countries like sudan
dw africa correspondent mariel muller
traveled to a town on the border with
tigray
they were lucky after crossing the
border from ethiopia to sudan
latha borhan and her family found refuge
in this home
the nearby camp is already overcrowded
there they would have had to sleep
outside
on the ground
i thank the owner of this house so much
because she doesn't know
us she doesn't know anything about us
but because we were neighbors across the
border
she took us in more than 50 people
she'll never forget the moment she
realized she
and her nine children had to flee their
hometown in tigray
we cried and our children cried with us
they wept in front of us the shooting
started while we were eating
we just had to leave
six families live here together that is
more than
50 people in one house among them
are tourish bahi and her husband when
the fighting in tigray started
they tried to bring their children to
safety
when the shooting started i gave my
children to our neighbors who had a car
to take them with them
since then she hasn't heard anything
from them because of her communications
blackout in tigray
she can't call the neighbors or people
in her village
my children are always on my mind
whenever i close my eyes
i see them the owner of the house
is farida ibrahim it's not the first
time that she has welcomed refugees in
her home
in the 1960s she housed people who fled
the war in ethiopia
these people came to us and although we
don't have much money
they are our neighbors so we have to
help them many residents of this already
poor region have again
welcomed ethiopian refugees in their
homes some offer shelter only others
provide food and water
however the influx of people here has
resulted in instant price hikes
residents tell us
vegetables fruit meat and even water has
become much more expensive
still they try to help as much as they
can for lazar bohan it's the second time
that she had to flee her home
she doesn't want the same for her
children
i hope my children will have a better
life will not become like us
i wish they go to school study do their
jobs
and stay away from politics
ibrahim says her guests can stay as long
as they need