Thousands of South Sudanese asylum seekers have been held in 'appalling' conditions in Gambella region of Ethiopia/AFP

Thousands of asylum seekers from South Sudan have “been stuck for months in appalling conditions” in Ethiopia’s western Gambella region, medical charity MSF has said.

MSF says the South Sudanese lack access to critical services, including food aid. It cited a family that arrived in August last year to escape flooding in their home region of Jonglei, and hoped to settle in Gambella, which hosts more than 300,000 refugees in camps.

However, the family has been stranded at a reception centre for eight months, MSF says, which was originally meant to be a holding centre for a short duration.

The charity says 16,000 South Sudanese asylum seekers, mostly women and children have been crammed in the “small, fenced-in, and overcrowded space wedged between settlements of the host community”.

The agency fears that with the rainy season starting soon, the place will become swampy and become a breeding ground for malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

The MSF has also raised concern over the risk of a spread of Covid-19 in the area as people huddle together during the season.

“The situation needs to be addressed urgently…Asylum seekers need to be registered in a timely manner, and the process for the establishment of a proper reception centre in a more suitable location,” said MSF country director Audrey van der Schoot.