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Heavy Rain Complicates Life for Thousands of Displaced Ethiopians

by Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA --

   Aid agencies say more than 800,000 people, displaced by violence in
   southern Ethiopia, are facing a humanitarian crisis as the rainy season
   sets in with inadequate shelter to protect them from cold, wet weather.
   Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes last
   month when inter-communal clashes broke out in southern Ethiopia's
   Gedeo and West Guji zones.

   The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says people have
   walked for days to escape the fighting, with nothing but the clothes on
   their back. It says many have been forced to sleep in the open along
   the way.

   IOM spokesman Joel Millman says many of the displaced are staying with
   relatives in local communities or in rented accommodations. Others are
   sheltering in schools, government buildings and disused factories.

   "Thousands of people are crammed into overcrowded collective centers
   unfit for human habitation," he said. "Others sleep outside on bare
   floors with nothing more than a tarpaulin to shield them from the cold
   and rain. Open-fire cooking in overly congested buildings, poor
   sanitation and cold weather are all contributing to a worsening
   environment from both health and protection perspectives."

   Aid agencies report the displaced do not have enough food, clean water,
   shelter and other basic necessities. They warn people will be at risk
   of malnutrition and disease outbreaks if humanitarian assistance is not
   scaled up.

   Millman says the IOM has distributed 1,000 blankets in the past week
   and is in the process of building 40 communal shelters and digging 150
   latrines.

   The international Committee of the Red Cross says it, together with the
   Ethiopia Red Cross, will provide relief to 100,000 people. The agencies
   say they also will provide medicine and health supplies to local
   clinics.