Significant cuts to humanitarian aid from donors like USAID are causing living conditions for more than 395,000 refugees in Ethiopia’s Gambella region to rapidly deteriorate, according to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The aid cuts are straining basic services like food distribution, clean water access, and healthcare.

In a statement released today, MSF, which has provided healthcare in the Kule refugee camp for over a decade, said its teams are now overwhelmed by increasing needs. The general decline in humanitarian funding has led to the suspension of nutrition services in four of the seven camps, putting approximately 80,000 children under five at risk of life-threatening malnutrition.

“We receive food once a month—maize, wheat, and sorghum—but it always runs out before the month ends,” said Nyauahial Puoch, a mother of an MSF patient, highlighting the severe food shortages.

The closure of other facilities has forced MSF’s centers to become a critical lifeline, often leading to overcrowding. In 2025, MSF’s therapeutic feeding center saw a 55% increase in child admissions compared to the previous year, with half of these children coming from neighboring camps. The outpatient department also experienced a 58% rise in patient visits, and prenatal care visits surged by 72% compared to 2024.

“We’re receiving more patients from other camps, largely because these services are no longer available locally due to many NGOs withdrawing from the region because of funding cuts,” explained Armand Dirks, MSF’s project coordinator in Gambella.

The funding cuts have also downsized disease prevention activities, including malaria prevention programs. Malaria is endemic in the region, and MSF’s teams are anticipating a sharp increase in cases during the current rainy season, which runs from May to October.

In July 2025, the number of malaria patients at MSF facilities more than doubled compared to June. Since January, MSF has treated over 23,800 cases, with more than half of these patients traveling from neighboring camps.

“Cases are expected to rise sharply during this peak transmission period, posing a serious threat to already vulnerable refugees,” said Birhanu Sahile, MSF’s deputy medical coordinator.

With NGOs unable to meet the growing needs, MSF is calling on the Ethiopian government to take decisive action to integrate refugees into local services. The Gambella region, in southwestern Ethiopia, has hosted a large number of South Sudanese refugees since 2014.

Peaceful protest by Refugees In Niger has entered its 303^rd day without any positive response from relevant international bodies.

Refugees In Niger are refugees who have been abandoned in Agadez, Niger. “We need international protection, healthcare & education for our children. We need your help!,” the group wrote on its X handle.

Announcing its 303^rd peaceful protest, the group said: “The peaceful protest of the  refugees in the Agadez camp, who demanded security, a decent life and non-discrimination, entered its 303th day in a row, and no humanitarian agency interfered.”

Refugees in Agadez were abandoned to face their fate on their own, with food supplies cut off and no health, education, or shelter that meets human standards. “Why this silence? How can a human being live in this desert without help?,” the refugees queried.

Before now, the refugees had this to say regarding its earlier peaceful protests: “The peaceful protest of the  refugees in the Agadez camp, who demand security and a decent life that was not available in the camp, enters its 302th day in a row, and suffering continues on us Therefore, we appeal to everyone with a human conscience to look at us with compassion

“The peaceful protest of the refugees in the Agadez camp, who demanded security, a decent life and non-discrimination, entered its 301th day in a row, and no humanitarian agency interfered

A member of the group, Ahmed Moursal @MrsalAhmd95964 in a tweet said: “Peaceful protests continue in Agadez center in front of @UNHCRNiger  office for 300 days demanding a decent life but no one has responded to our calls so far

@UNHCRNiger violates our rights again and cuts off food to refugees here refugees are dying of hunger Please save us please.”

A human smuggler apprehended by the CID has admitted  to smuggling migrants from Southern Libya border region for purpose of transferring them to Western Libya for boat crossing to EU.

The details of the raid and arrest by the CID were contained in a recent information shared by Migrant Rescue Watch.  

The information reads: “CID in response to citizens’ report carried out raid on uninhabited rest house in Korfa 9 area east of Ajdabiya and apprehended 10 undocumented #migrants of Eritrean and Ethiopian nationalities.”

According to Migrant Rescue Watch, the group was left at the location by a human smuggler without food or water. “Further police investigation led to arrest of the property owner who during interrogation admitted to smuggling the group from Southern border region for purpose of transferring them to Western Libya for boat crossing to EU. The accused and the #migrants were referred to public prosecution for legal action.”