Saturday August 18, 2018
ADDIS ABABA, (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia has established emergency healthcare centers to provide medical service to Ethiopian returnees from neighboring Djibouti, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health revealed on Wednesday.
Amir Aman, Ethiopian Minister of Health, said on Wednesday that four emergency healthcare centers have been established in Dire Dawa and its surroundings to provide necessary medical treatment to Ethiopians who are returning from Djibouti as recent violent clashes ignite safety concerns.
The move came amid a reported revenge attack against Ethiopians in the Red Sea nation over the past few days following recent violent clashes in eastern part of Ethiopia.
According to Aman, some 74 of the returnees have so far received healthcare treatment upon their arrival from Djibouti, and 24 of them have recovered from injuries while the remaining are currently under treatment.
Over 30,000 Ethiopian migrants have been displaced from Djibouti after an attack by ethnic Somalis days after violent ethnic clashes in the eastern part of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) reported on Monday.
The Red Sea nation as of last week have been repatriating its citizens from Dire Dawa following the violence last week that killed at least ten people, of whom 5 were said to be from Djibouti, according to various Ethiopian local media reports.
The establishment of the four medical centers in Dire Dawa city by the Ethiopian Ministry of Health on Wednesday is the second major healthcare response during the week, as the ministry last week dispatched a medical team to provide assistance for those injured during the unrest that hit the eastern Somali regional state.
According to the ministry, the team primarily dispatched to Jijiga city, capital of the Somali regional state, which during the weekend saw deadly unrest that left an unknown number of people dead and injured and scores of private homes and businesses damaged.