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More than 400,000 people have “crossed the threshold of famine” in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region, a senior UN official said on Friday, calling for urgent humanitarian action to help millions of people affected by this brutal conflict which has lasted for eight months.
Fighting between the Ethiopian government and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) resumed last month when the rebels launched a major counteroffensive that allowed them to retake their regional capital, Mekele.
This week, Ethiopian forces destroyed two key bridges allowing much-needed aid to enter the region, prompting accusations against Addis Ababa for seeking to block humanitarian aid.
On Friday, the UN Security Council held its first public meeting on a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and left hundreds of thousands of people hungry.
Ramesh Rajasingham, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the meeting that the situation had “dramatically worsened” as conflict resumed in recent weeks.
“It is estimated that more than 400,000 people have crossed the threshold of famine and an additional 1.8 million people are on the brink of famine,” he said. “Some suggest the numbers are even higher. 33,000 children are severely malnourished.”
“The lives of many of these people (in Tigray) depend on our ability to reach them with food, medicine, nutritional supplies and other humanitarian aid,” he added. “We have to reach them now. Not next week. Now.”
Ethiopia has dismissed accusations that it plans to stifle aid to the region.
“The insinuation that we plan to suffocate the Tigrayan people by denying humanitarian access and using hunger as a weapon of war is unimaginable,” Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen told diplomats gathered at a hotel in the capital Addis Ababa.
The authorities “are using every ounce of our strength to get” Tigrayan civilians “out of the dire situation they find themselves in,” he added.
Cease-fire “a joke”
Ethiopia’s Tigray region. By (AFP) Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops to Tigray last November to arrest and disarm leaders of the region’s ruling party, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF).
He said the move was a response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps and declared victory weeks after federal forces captured the regional capital Mekele.
But after the rebels – renaming themselves the Tigray Defense Force (TDF) – recaptured Mekele and claimed control of most of the region, the government announced a unilateral ceasefire that the TDF called of “joke”.
Senior UN official Rosemary DiCarlo on Friday urged the group to “immediately and completely” approve the ceasefire.
“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 necessary to find a way out of the crisis,” said DiCarlo.
“Lives will be lost”
The war has already taken a heavy humanitarian toll, with the United States estimating that 900,000 civilians are “probably already in a state of famine.”
According to the UN World Food Program (WFP), 5.2 million people, or 91 percent of Tigray’s population, are in need of emergency food assistance.
Workers in Mekele carry sacks of wheat for a food distribution organized by a local NGO, the Relief Society of Tigray. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP / File) WFP said on Friday it had resumed aid operations after a two-day hiatus, but added that lives were still at stake after the two main bridges leading to Tigray were destroyed.
“Lives will be lost if supply routes to Tigray are not fully opened and parties to the conflict continue to disrupt or endanger the free flow of goods for WFP and other emergency responders.” .
The UN said one of the bridges was “apparently” destroyed by security forces in the Amhara region, south of Tigray, but the government blamed Tigray forces on Friday.
In his comments to diplomats on Friday, Demeke reiterated the government’s position that the ceasefire was motivated by humanitarian concerns and to facilitate agriculture.
But with power and telecommunications cut, flights suspended and most roads in the region now impassable, 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,” the foreign policy chief said on Twitter. the EU, Josep Borrell.
The way of dialogue?
Demeke also said that following last month’s national elections that are expected to give Abiy a new term, the government is preparing for an “inclusive dialogue” to resolve the crisis. The polls have been postponed in Tigray.
Members of the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) were greeted as heroes on their return. By Yasuyoshi Chiba (AFP) Such a dialogue has long been sought after by diplomats pushing for a political resolution to the war.
But in a closed-door question-and-answer session with diplomats, officials said dialogue with the TPLF leadership was not on the agenda.
In May, lawmakers designated the TPLF as a terrorist organization.
Pressed by diplomats on how this might affect the dialogue, Demeke said some TPLF members were “innocent” and could be included, according to three participants.
But Demeke and Redwan Hussein, spokesperson for a government task force on the Tigray conflict, told diplomats Addis Ababa is committed to “being accountable” to TPLF leaders, diplomats said. .
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