Ethiopia's refugee camps swell with South Sudanese escaping war – in pictures

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese people have poured across the border into Ethiopia to the conflict in their own country. The rainy season has temporarily slowed the stream of people into flooded refugee camps in a region that has its own ethnic tensions, but many fear the return of dry weather will bring more fighting and a surge of people seeking refuge
• All photographs by Peter Nicholls

A red rag marks the border between South Sudan and Ethiopia at Pagak. As the conflict in South Sudan has worsened, the number of refugees crossing the border has increased; 190,000 South Sudanese have crossed since December 2013 and the number is expected to rise to 300,000 by the end of this year


An aerial view of part of the flooded Lietchor refugee camp in Ethiopia, which houses more than 47,800 refugees who have fled the conflict in South Sudan

The last section of dry road leading to Lietchor camp. Although the rainy season has worsened conditions in the camps, many fear that dry weather will lead to a surge in fighting


The flooded homes of Ethiopians whose village is next to Lietchor camp


South Sudanese refugees at Lietchor camp. People have to wade through the water to cross from one dry part of the camp to another


South Sudanese boys play in the water at the flooded Lietchor camp

Refugees queue for food at Bambasi camp. Fighting in South Sudan has prevented many who arrived at the camp more than a year ago from returning home

Refugees collect food at Bambasi camp
Do you know what the shed is? It is a cattle keeping shed!! (Subsahara)

A refugee carries a sack of maize meal away from the food collection centre


New arrivals at Kule camp wait in the heat to collect their food, provided by the UN’s World Food Programme

A baby sits in the Pagak holding centre. Heavy rain and flooding have made it more difficult to move refugees from the temporary camp

Ethiopian border guards in Pagak. Many South Sudanese refugees have walked for 10 days to cross the border