With fighting raging in neighboring Ethiopia and the conflict largely sealed off from the rest of the world, AP journalists on the country’s border with Sudan have documented the influx of refugees, obtaining valuable information about the situation inside the defiant Tigray region.
The thousands of refugees spilling over the border into Sudan from Ethiopia’s Tigray region are some of the only firsthand witnesses to a worsening conflict that remains out of reach for most of the world’s media. Crossing a remote desert area, they recount ethnic-targeted killings, many fleeing at a moment’s notice and leaving loved ones behind amid an offensive by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad’s government against Tigray separatists.
Dubai-based video journalist Fay Abuelgasim and Cairo photographer Nariman el-Mofty have put individual faces on the complex story since arriving at the Sudan-Ethiopia border area nearly two weeks ago. Along with reporters Sam Magdy in Cairo and Cara Anna in Nairobi, freelance photographer Marwan Ali and video journalist Mohaned Awad, their work has shown the human toll of a conflict to which access remains tightly restricted, even as the United Nations warns of possible war crimes.
Refugees who fled the conflict in the Ethiopia’s Tigray region carry their belongings from a boat after arriving on the banks of the Tekeze River on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan, Nov. 21, 2020. The United Nations refugee agency said Ethiopia’s growing conflict had resulted in thousands fleeing from the Tigray region into Sudan.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees who fled Ethiopia arrive on the banks of the Tekeze River on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan, Nov. 21, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Refugees who fled the conflict in the Ethiopia’s Tigray region arrive with a donkey on the banks of the Tekeze River on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan, Nov. 21, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
The Kassala Mountains near the border with Eritrea, eastern Sudan, Nov. 20, 2020. Ethiopia's deadly conflict with its insurgent Tigray region spilled over the border as thousands of people fled into Sudan along with soldiers seeking protection, while Tigray’s regional leader accused Eritrea of attacking at the request of Ethiopia’s federal government.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A woman who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region carries water on her back at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 27, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Eight-months pregnant ethnic Amhara Ethiopian refugee Blaines Alfao Eileen, right, sits with Tigray refugee Lemlem Haylo Rada, 25, holding her 1-month old baby who was born on a street as she fled, at Um Rakuba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 23, 2020. The conflict in Ethiopia could have turned them against each other, but motherhood took priority.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Terhas Tsfa, 25, who gave birth on a street as she fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, holds her baby at Um Rakuba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 23, 2020. The camp does not have enough food, and women worry about being able to breastfeed their infants.
Nariman el-Mofty
A woman who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region waits for treatment at a makeshift clinic in Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 25, 2020. Refugees in Sudan face little food or medicine, little shelter, little funding and little or no contact with loved ones left behind in Tigray.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray people who fled the conflict in Ethiopia wait to receive treatment inside the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) clinic at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 27, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Medical supplies are piled inside a makeshift clinic donated by the Sudanese government to refugees who fled conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, at Village 8, the transit centre near the Lugdi border crossing, eastern Sudan, Nov. 22, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Filippo Grandi, United Nations high commissioner for refugees, visits Umm Rakouba refugee camp sheltering people who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 28, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia wait to get cooked rice served by Sudanese local volunteers at Um Rakuba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 23, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region wait to get cooked rice served by Sudanese local volunteers at Um Rakuba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 23, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A Tigray girl who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region watches women cook in front of her shelter at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 25, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees play volleyball at Um Rakuba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 23, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees cook in front of their shelter at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 27, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees run to receive cooked rice from charity organization Muslim Aid at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 27, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray people who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region walk through Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 25, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees from Ethiopia arrive on a bus at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 26, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees from Ethiopia arrive on a bus at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 26, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees arrive on a bus at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 26, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees stand on a hill overlooking Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 26, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A Tigray man who fled the conflict in Ethiopia pours water into a jug at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 27, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A Tigray refugee carries water on her back at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 27, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A Tigray woman who fled the conflict in Ethiopia works on building a family shelter using local materials provided by the Sudanese Red Crescent and United Nations Refugee Agency at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 27, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A young Tigray refugee walks near her shelter at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 25, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A Tigray woman who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region carries her baby to attend Sunday Mass at a church, near Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 29, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A Tigrayan priest who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region delivers a sermon during Sunday Mass at a church near Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 29, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigrayan refugees pray during Sunday Mass at a church near Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 29, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A Tigrayan boy who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region looks at an Ethiopian priest’s Bible during Sunday Mass at a church near Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 29, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A refugee of Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict weeps after Sunday Mass ends at a church near Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 29, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
A Tigray refugee stretches her arms after Sunday Mass ended at a nearby church, at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 29, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Tigray refugees arrive for Sunday Mass at a church near Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 29, 2020.
AP Photo / Nariman El-Mofty
Abuelgasim and el-Mofty were among the few journalists who negotiated access to an expansive border river where refugees crossed in crowded boats. They captured scenes of broken families amid an arduous journey, many with young children. Anna, who has reported extensively on the conflict, has provided indispensable insight into the situation on the other side of the border even as the communications blackout persists in the region and the warring parties release scant and conflicting information.
After receiving a tip from Magdy, who had been in touch with aid workers on the ground, Abuelgasim and el-Mofty profiled two mothers who went into labor while they were fleeing the violence in Tigray. One gave birth alone while walking on the desert road. Other refugees passing by found her and helped her wash the baby boy in a puddle. She and another mother who went into labor while fleeing, giving birth to a girl, say they’re struggling to breastfeed their infants in the camps where food and clean water can be scarce.
Their images of the new arrivals at scattered refugee camps, often a three-hour drive on rough roads from the nearest town, have earned significant client usage, with Abuelgasim’s video edits from the border area seeing top usage for nearly two weeks, while el-Mofty’s photos of the refugees crossing into Sudan have been used by The New York Times and The Washington Post, among other international clients.
For their determined, resourceful and revealing work to document the individual struggles of an escalating refugee crisis, Abuelgasim, el-Mofty, Anna and Magdy earn AP’s Best of the Week award.
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