Somalia’s embassy in Ethiopia has confirmed that the government of Ethiopia accepted to allow Somalis fleeing from Sudan to come to Ethiopia following talks with officials from Somalia’s embassy in Addis Ababa.
In a statement, the embassy said it evacuate all Somalis stranded at the border between Sudan and Ethiopia.
“The embassy is committed to evacuating all Somali nationals who are stranded at the border between Sudan and Ethiopia. The embassy had talks with the Ethiopian government over the issue and both sides reached the decision to receive those Somalis fleeing from the conflict in Sudan,” the statement reads in part.
Thousands of Somalis including students and traders are in Sudan which has been witnessing deadly clashes between Abdel Fattah Burhan, head of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.
It comes two years after they jointly carried out a military coup and derailed a transition to democracy that had begun after protesters in 2019 helped force the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir. In recent months, negotiations were underway for a return to the democratic transition.
The victor of the latest fighting is likely to be Sudan’s next president, with the loser facing exile, arrest or death. A long-running civil war or partition of the Arab and African country into rival fiefdoms are also possible.
