Several thousand Eritrean ethnic Kunamas who sought refuge in Ethiopia during the 1998-2000 border war may be exempted from a UN ruling ending refugee status for Eritreans living in exile, UN sources have told IRIN.

Abyan Abdinur has a roof over her head. Other than that she has nothing. She has seen two of her children die, lost the few possessions she owned and all her livestock - her most valuable asset - have perished. Abyan is an internally displaced person (IDP), someone who has been forced to flee their home due to war, ethnic cleansing, or natural disasters like famine.

At least 20 women have been shot dead in northeastern Ethiopia, humanitarian sources told IRIN last Friday. The women, all ethnic Afars, were killed as they were on their way home from a market, the sources confirmed. The shooting, which took place in late October, is believed to be part of increasing tensions in the Afar Regional State sparked by a severe drought affecting many parts of the country.

Ethiopia was criticised on Friday for ignoring an order by the international Boundary Commission to remove resettled Ethiopians from Eritrean territory. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), which met the two sides in London last week, said the Ethiopian government had “not complied with its obligations”.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has warned that Ethiopia faces a famine worse than that of 1984, saying 6 million Ethiopians are in need of food aid and 15 million could face starvation early next year. World Food Program Ethiopia head Georgia Shaver echoed the warning, saying that while up to 14 million people need food aid across six southern African countries, "In Ethiopia, we could have the same number in just one country."