The war is forcing thousands of Ethiopians in Sudan

They took with them donkeys and beds and colorful motorcycles and rags that they now train over the pipes to create shelters. Others left their shoes behind as they crossed a river safely.

Tens of thousands of Ethiopians who just a few weeks ago were contemplating the harvest season are now crowding into refugee camps in Sudan. They fled the fields, houses and hospital rooms, while months of tensions between the government of Ethiopia and that of the challenging Tigray region erupted into deadly fighting.

Some walked for days to reach the border and, once there, were packed into buses or trucks for a difficult 11-hour journey to a camp. When a vehicle left, a baby cried hysterically, and his brother held the baby to the window for fresh air, explaining that the child was hungry and dehydrated and that the bus was too crowded.

Once in camp, wait. For food, for the word of loved ones, for water. Some crowd around the tap for hours before they can fill their buckets. Children up to the age of 7 struggle to lift heavy jugs on their backs.

Many became malnourished. A woman, 9 months pregnant, weighed only 45 kilograms (100 pounds). He cried when he saw the number on the scales. Another received a nutritional package, but failed to eat it.

The Tigray region remains largely remote from the world, but many of the refugees surround a small TV screen in hopes of finding out what might happen at home. For many, it is their only source of information because they have lost mobile phones along the way.

While watching the news, some of the young ethnic Tigers say they hope to return to fight for their homeland. Others fear that he could never return: they talk about soldiers fighting their houses, beating them and their neighbors on the street and leaving them dead. Witnesses said hundreds of people were massacred in the town of Mai-Kadra, targeted because of their ethnicity – although there are conflicting accounts of who killed whom.

When night falls, the mood changes. The oppressive heat rises. Relief workers go home. Children dance to pop music, teenagers gather to drink coffee and smoke water pipes, and adults discuss politics. A man hopes that one day Tigray will break up with Ethiopia.

“I do not identify as an Ethiopian; I’m Tigray, “said Hayle Mariam, a 25-year-old refugee. “When a married couple can’t go on, what do they do? They are divorcing – we need our divorce in Ethiopia. “