Humanitarian crisis looms in Eritrea

Thousands of displaced people were already living in the area

Eritrea fears a humanitarian crisis as more than 500,000 people flee advancing Ethiopian forces in the south-west of the country.

The conflict is likely to destroy the next harvest in the country's main food-producing region.

Infrastructure crucial to a region already hit by severe drought is being damaged or destroyed, and thousands of landmines pose a new threat near the front lines.

The crisis is overshadowing efforts to provide aid across the Horn of Africa region where about 10m people face the threat of starvation as a result of three years of failed rains.

Eritrean appeal

The Eritrean Government's Relief and Refugee Commission says 550,000 people are on the move, trying to escape the advancing Ethiopian army.

Aid is being sought for half a million people

It has appealed for international help both for them and for a further 350,000 people who it says are already affected by drought in the area.

"It is no less than a humanitarian crisis," said agency official Worku Tesfamichael.

World Food Programme Brenda Barton described the situation as "very serious".

"At the moment we are scrambling around to try and source the quantities and kinds of food we will need to sustain a very large population on the move," she said.

Emergency supplies

The UN's representative in Asmara, Simon Nhongo, said the Eritrean Government had asked the UN to help out in providing emergency supplies, such as tents, blankets, relief food and water storage facilities.

Eritrea is sending reinforcements to the front

Western Eritrea is the nation's agricultural heartland, providing more than half the country's total agricultural production.

Normally, the land would be ploughed at this time of year in preparation for the rains which are expected in the next month.

The war has ruled out the possibility of a harvest, which means Eritrea will be dependent on international aid to feed at least half its population for months to come.

Refugees arrive in Sudan

Thousands of Eritreans have already fled into neighbouring Sudan.

Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said it was estimated that between 6,000 and 20,000 Eritreans arrived in Sudan on Thursday, reportedly from the Tessenei area, just inside Eritrea.

He said they included Eritrean soldiers, who had been disarmed by the Sudanese army.