On Sunday, Ogata met with Sudan's External Relations Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail, Internal Affairs Minister Ahmed Al Aas and Commissioner of Refugees Al Aghbash. They included some Eritrean refugees who had gone back Wednesday and Friday to Eritrea after the Eritrean military sent word that it had retaken towns the Ethiopians had occupied. The group also included 500 Eritrean soldiers who were disarmed after they crossed the frontier into Sudan near the Gergaf camp.
More staff are due to arrive in the coming days.
The delivery of water pumps will help boost water delivery throughout the affected regions, where fights have broken out among the displaced people over water. A total of 12 heavy vehicles and six light vehicles are being airlifted to Eritrea to relieve urgent needs in the Gash-Barka zone. Distribution of locally purchased kitchen sets and sanitary napkins will begin on Monday targeting the displaced persons returning to the western lowlands region. The internally displaced are also moving towards their home areas throughout the region. Some single women encountered along the hot and dusty roads said that they were searching for their children and other family members.