ADDIS ABABA, 23 December, 2020, (TON): The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, together with 30 humanitarian partners, on Tuesday appealed for 156 million U.S. dollars to meet "the critical humanitarian needs" of Ethiopian refugees fleeing the Tigray conflict through the first half of 2021.

This appeal is also expected to strengthen the preparedness to receive refugees in other countries in the region in case of further refugee movements, said a statement from the UN refugee agency, quoting its spokesperson Andrej Mahecic at a Tuesday press briefing in Geneva.

More than 52,000 refugees have fled Tigray into eastern Sudan over the past six weeks. Despite the number of new arrivals dropping more recently to some 500 a day, aid agencies are dealing with a full-scale humanitarian emergency in a very remote area that has not seen such a large refugee influx in decades, according to the UN refugee agency.

The regional refugee preparedness and response plan covered the period from November 2020, when the situation in Tigray escalated after months of growing political tensions, through to June 2021, and aimed to reach up to 115,000 refugees and 22,000 people from host communities.

It further includes support for the governments of Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea in maintaining and facilitating access to asylum and providing life-saving assistance to those who have been forced to flee.

Weeks of fights in northern Ethiopia's Tigray regional state between the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Ethiopian Defense Forces have reportedly left hundreds of people dead, thousands displaced, and millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.