More than 400,000 people are now starving in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, a UN official said on Friday, calling for immediate humanitarian action to help the millions affected by the brutal eight-month conflict.
Fighting between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) resumed last month when rebels launched a major counter-offensive that saw them retake their regional capital, Mekele.
This week, two key bridges that desperately needed help for the region were destroyed, leading to fears that the federal government was trying to stifle humanitarian aid – a fee that Addis Ababa denied.
On Friday, the UN Security Council held its first public meeting on a conflict that has left thousands dead and starved hundreds of thousands.
Ramesh Rajasingham, acting deputy secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency coordinator, said the situation had “deteriorated dramatically” as the conflict had resumed in recent weeks.
“It is estimated that more than 400,000 people have crossed the threshold of famine and another 1.8 million people are on the brink of starvation,” he said. “Some suggest the number is even higher. 33,000 children are severely malnourished.”
“Many of these people’s lives (in Tigray) depend on our ability to reach them with food, medicine, nutrition and other humanitarian aid,” he added. “We have to reach them now. Not next week. Now.”
Ethiopia has denied allegations that it plans to stifle support for the region.
“The insinuation that we are planning to stifle the Tigray people by denying humanitarian access and using hunger as a weapon of war is beyond bleach,” Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen told diplomats gathered at a hotel in the capital Addis Ababa.
Officials “use every ounce of our force to free” Tigray civilians “from the difficult situation they are in,” he added.
Ceasefire “a joke”
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops to Tigray in November last year to imprison and disarm leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
He said the move was in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps and declared victory within weeks of federal forces capturing the regional capital of Mekele.
But after the rebels – after reorganizing themselves Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) – took back Mekele and claimed control of most of the region, the government announced a unilateral ceasefire which the TDF has dismissed as “a joke.”
UN official Rosemary DiCarlo on Friday called on the group to “immediately and fully” support the ceasefire.
“A ceasefire observed by all parties would not only facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid but would also be a starting point for the necessary policy efforts to chart a way out of the crisis,” DiCarlo said.
“Life will get lost”
The war has already waged a dizzying humanitarian toll, and the United States estimates that 900,000 civilians “are probably already experiencing famine.”
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) says 5.2 million people, or 91 percent of Tigray’s population, need emergency food assistance.
On Friday, WFP said it had resumed aid operations after a two-day hiatus but added that life was still in balance after the destruction of the two major bridges leading to Tigray.
“Life will be lost if delivery routes to Tigray are not fully opened and parties to the conflict continue to disrupt or jeopardize the free movement of goods for WFP and other rescue workers.”
The UN has said one of the bridges “reportedly” was blown up by security forces from the Amhara region, south of Tigray, but the government accused Tigrayan forces on Friday.
In his comments to diplomats on Friday, Demeke reiterated the government’s position that the ceasefire was motivated by humanitarian problems and to facilitate agriculture.
But with electricity and telecommunications cut off, flights cut off and most roads to the region now inaccessible, UN officials and diplomats fear the situation could deteriorate further.
“A credible ceasefire means doing everything possible to ensure that aid reaches the millions of children, women and men who urgently need it,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter.
The road to dialogue?
Demeke also said the government was preparing for an “inclusive dialogue” to resolve the crisis following last month’s national elections, which are expected to give Abiy a new term. The election was postponed in Tigray.
Such a dialogue has long been demanded by diplomats working for a political solution to the war.
But in a closed question time with diplomats, officials stated that the dialogue with the TPLF leadership remained off the table.
In May, lawmakers appointed TPLF a terrorist organization.
When pressured by diplomats about how it could affect any dialogue, Demeke said some TPLF members were “innocent” and according to three participants could be included.
But both Demeke and Redwan Hussein, a spokesman for a government group for the Tigray conflict, told diplomats that Addis Ababa was committed to “accountability” for TPLF leaders, diplomats said.
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