More than 400,000 people have “crossed the threshold of famine” in Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia at war for eight months, a senior UN official warned on Friday. The organization also urges the rebels to apply the ceasefire decided by Ethiopia.
The situation in Tigray has “dramatically worsened”, the UN Deputy Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ramesh Rajasingham told the UN Security Council’s first public meeting on Tigray on Friday (July 2).
The conflict in Tigray took a major turn on Monday, June 28, with the conquest of the regional capital Mekele by forces loyal to the diverse regional authorities of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Two major bridges to support Tigray were also destroyed this week by Ethiopian forces, according to NGOs and the World Food Program (WFP).
►To read: Tigray: an important bridge for destroyed supplies, fear of humanitarian aid
Enables the delivery of food aid as quickly as possible
“It is estimated that more than 400,000 people have crossed the threshold of famine and that another 1.8 million people are on the brink of starvation,” warned Ramesh Rajasingham. “Some suggest that the number is even higher and 33,000 children are severely malnourished,” he added. “Many of these people’s lives depend on our ability to reach them with food, medicine.” “We have to reach them now. Not next week. Now, he said.
It took almost eight months for the Security Council to agree to formally discuss Tigray. Russia and China but also Kenya, Niger and Tunisia were opposed and believed that the conflict was an internal affair in Ethiopia, reports our correspondent in New York. Carrie Nooten. The US ambassador said it was an opportunity to show that African lives play as important a role as other lives in the world before asking Eritrean troops to return home.
The government is accused of suffocating the Tigrayan people
The Ethiopian government on Friday dismissed the allegations, saying it planned to block humanitarian aid to Tigray, which it lost control of this week. “The insinuation that we are planning to stifle the Tigray people by denying humanitarian access and using hunger as a weapon of war is unacceptable,” Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen told diplomats at a rally. Hotels in the capital Addis Ababa.
►To read: Ethiopia: how the rebels regained the advantage in Tigray
The UN also calls on the rebel forces, known as the Tigray Defense Forces, “to immediately and fully support the ceasefire” decided by the Ethiopian government in the region, the UN Deputy Secretary-General told them. Political Issues, Rosemary DiCarlo.
“A ceasefire observed by all parties would not only facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid but would also be a starting point for the political efforts needed to map a way out of the crisis,” she said.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, sent the army to Tigray in early November 2020 to capture the leaders of the TPLF, whom he accused of organizing attacks on federal military bases.
5.2 million people in need of food aid
Abiy Ahmed declared victory after to take Mekele November 28, but fighting never stopped between pro-TPLF forces and the Ethiopian army, backed by troops from neighboring Amhara regional authorities and the army forEritrea.
The war has plunged the region into a serious humanitarian situation. According to the WFP, 5.2 million people, or 91% of the population of Tigray, are in need of food aid. The UN agency announced on Friday that it had resumed aid operations after a two-day break, hoping to reach 30,000 people “by the weekend”. But she lamented that two major bridges leading to Tigray had been destroyed, saying that “lives will be lost if the supply routes to Tigray are not fully opened and if the parties to the conflict continue to disrupt or disrupt. And jeopardize the free flow of aid.
Several countries, including the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom, behind the Security Council meeting that Africans did not want, also argued that humanitarian access should be prevented.
In his discussions with diplomats, Demeke Mekonnen reiterated that a ceasefire had been decided to allow the distribution of humanitarian aid and work with crops. But with power outages and telecommunications disruptions, canceled flights and most of the region’s roads now impassable, UN officials and diplomats fear the situation will worsen.
Government ready for dialogue to resolve the crisis?
“A ceasefire does not mean shutting down electricity in a region or destroying critical infrastructure,” EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said on Twitter on Friday. “A credible ceasefire means doing everything possible to ensure that aid reaches the millions of children, women and men who urgently need it.”
A ceasefire does not mean a power outage in a region or destroying critical infrastructure.
A credible ceasefire means doing everything possible to ensure that aid reaches the millions of children, women and men who urgently need it. Saving lives should be a priority for everyone. #Tigray
– Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) July 2, 2021
Demeke Mekonnen also told diplomats that after the June 21 national election, which would give Abiy Ahmed a new mandate, the government was preparing for an “inclusive dialogue to resolve the Tigray crisis”.
“This process should involve legal opposition parties, grassroots members of the TPLF who show a willingness to choose a peaceful path, business, civil society organizations, elders and other prominent people,” he explained. However, Ethiopian leaders said discussions with TPLF leaders were out of the question.
Demeke Mekonnen, as well as Tigray’s government crisis spokesman Redwan Hussein, confirmed that Addis Ababa wanted to see TPLF leaders sanctioned for their “responsibilities”. But some members of the TPLF are “innocent” and could be included in future discussions, the Ethiopian deputy prime minister said, according to these diplomats.
(With AFP)
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