Tigray camps closed

Nairobi: Two camps in Ethiopia's Tigray region housing Eritrean refugees have been shut and the occupants relocated, authorities said yesterday, after the United Nations said residents had reported attacks, including by suspected Eritrean troops.

The UNHCR refugee agency has called for protection for the residents of the Shimelba and Hitsats camps, which it says were attacked by armed men who killed and abducted refugees. On February 1, it said residents had reported that Eritrean troops had forced some refugees back into Eritrea.