Ethiopia commits massacres and displaces hundreds of thousands in Tigray region
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent the federal army to Tigray last November to arrest and disarm the leaders of the then-ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Tigray region enjoys autonomy and demands its right to independence as a country with political and economic independence from Ethiopia, however, the government carried out ethnic cleansing and displacement of tens of thousands, who left to the neighboring regions. The war has caused huge human casualties and a terrible humanitarian crisis.
Ramesh Rajasingham, Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs stated that since the start of the conflict last November – the situation has deteriorated significantly.
“We estimate that more than 400,000 people suffer from a famine, and 1.8 million others are on the threshold of famine, while some say the numbers are even higher. There are 33,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition,” he added.
“The lives of a large number of people in Tigray depend on our ability to get them food and medicine,” Rajasingham stressed.
The United Nations World Food Program says that 5.2 million people -or 91% of the population of Tigray- need emergency food assistance, and most of the region’s population is left without basic humanitarian services such as treatment, medicine, and education.
Earlier, three humanitarian workers who work for Doctors Without Borders were killed; the emergency coordinator, the assistant coordinator, and the driver.
These horrific killings come as ongoing grave violations of international humanitarian law, gross human rights violations, and abuses continue in Tigray.
It is worth noting that an Ethiopian aircraft raided a crowded market in Togoga village, Tigray province, killing more than 80 civilians, while the government forces prevented ambulances and emergency vehicles from reaching the place to provide assistance to the injured or save lives.
Rosemary DiCarlo, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Political Affairs, urged the fighters “Tigray Defense Forces” to “accept an immediate and complete ceasefire”.
This was announced by the Ethiopian government after the forces managed to Liberation of Tigray from entering and liberating the provincial capital, Mekkeli.
International organizations have accused the Ethiopian government of preventing the entry of humanitarian aid after the Tigray liberation fighters took control of the capital of the region.
We call on the international community to provide adequate protection to the citizens of the region and provide the required humanitarian aid, hold those responsible for war crimes accountable before international courts, and withdraw the Nobel Peace Prize from President Ethiopian Abiy Ahmed for his personal involvement in war crimes in the region.
