Hamdayet Border Reception Centre is a

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

reception centre in eastern

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

used for

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n refugees fleeing the

Tigray War The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...

that started in November 2020.

Location

Hamdayet Border Reception Centre is located in a small village ''Hamdayet'' within the larger village of Wad Muzammil ( ar, ود مزمل), which lies between the Setit River (known as ''Tekezé River'' in much of Ethiopia) and the

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

n border, close to Sudan's eastern border with Ethiopia. Hamdayet administratively lies in

Kassala State Kassala ( ar, ولاية كسلا, called ''Ash Sharqiyah'' during 1991—1994) is one of the 18 '' wilayat'' (states) of Sudan. It has an area of 36,710 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,400,000 (2000). Kassala is the capit ...

and is close to

el-Gadarif El-Gadarif ( ar, القضارف '), also spelt ''Gedaref'' or ''Gedarif'', is the capital of the state of Al Qadarif in Sudan. It lies on the road that connects Khartoum with Gallabat on the Ethiopian border, about from the capital. Overview El- ...

city. Hamdayet is small. , it has no electricity or water supplies, with only one medical clinic, operated by

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. M ...

. Telephone, television and internet connectivity is weak. The local market is open at 06:00 and closes at 16:00. There are no motels or accommodation. Grass made huts are available for rent. Temperature are extremely hot during the daytime and mild in the evenings.

Refugee facility

In late November 2020,

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

Filippo Grandi Filippo Grandi (born March 30, 1957) is an Italian diplomat and United Nations official, currently serving as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He previously served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agen ...

visited Hamdayet and spoke with refugees there. As of 4 December 2020, 47,000 Ethiopian refugees had arrived in Sudan according to the

(UNHCR). Among these, 11,150 had been transferred from Hamdayet and another border camp, Abderafi, to the Um Rakuba refugee camp 70 km from the Sudanese border.

References

{{Tigray conflict Ethiopian diaspora Populated places in Kassala (state) Refugee camps in Africa Tigray War by location