Visit to Um Rakooba Refugee Camp

The head office Michele Morana together with Amb. Gianluigi Vassallo, a delegation from MAECI - DGIT led by Minister Vignali and staff members of UNHCR paid a visit to Um Rakooba refugee Camp in Gedaref State, hosting approx 19,000 refugees from Tigray. Since the early stages of the Tigray conflict, tens of thousands of people have crossed the Ethiopian-Sudanese border - from the Hamdayet and Lugdi borders - to seek refuge in Sudan. The refugee camps in the Gedaref state - Umm Rakooba - Tunaydbah - Babikri - Umm Gargoug - host about 44,520 Ethiopian refugees (mostly Tigrinians and Qemant).

The Italian Cooperation promptly responded by reconverting several ongoing programs to meet the growing humanitarian needs and maintaining a constant presence in the transit centres and refugee camps set up ad hoc by UNHCR, building upon Italy’s historical presence in the East. Italy in 2021 has been the second largest bilateral donor of UNHCR in Sudan after the United States (not considering the European Union).