Conflict, drought displaced more than 3.4M people in Ethiopia: UN migration agency

By Mohamed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – More than 3.4 million people have been displaced in Ethiopia because of conflicts and drought, the UN migration agency said on Friday.

The International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Ethiopia’s National Displacement report said on Friday that 64% of these people were displaced by conflict and 17% were forced to leave their homes by the ongoing drought while social tension affected 9%.

“Somali region hosts the highest number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) primarily due to drought, while Tigray region hosts the highest number of IDPs primarily displaced due to conflict,” IOM said.

An estimated 2.5 million returning internally displaced persons were identified in over 2,000 villages across 11 regions in the Horn of Africa nation, according to a village assessment survey (VAS) that was carried out between August and September 2023.

“The highest returning IDP caseloads nationwide were in the regions of Tigray (59%), Amhara (15%), and Afar (8%),” the report said.

The report noted that the Amhara region was “largely uncovered” due to “increased insecurity.”

Earlier this month, Ethiopia’s Disaster Risk Management Commission warned that nearly 4 million people who mostly live in the drought-stricken states require urgent food assistance.

The worst affected regions by the ongoing drought include Afar, Amhara, Tigray and Oromia, and southern and southwestern parts of the country.

The warning came as the war-stricken region of Tigray is witnessing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the country in decades.

More than 860 people have died in Tigray since September due to hunger, according to the Tigray communication bureau.