Ethiopia: in Tigray, the threat of an escalation of inter-ethnic violence

In Sanja, militiamen from the Amhara region set off to confront the TPLF on November 9, 2020;

REUTERS / Tiksa Negeri // File Photo

Text by: RFI Follow

4 min

A massacre of Ethiopians belonging to the Amhara ethnic group, arrests of Tigrayans ... The conflict in Ethiopia could quickly spiral out of control, warns the UN, which fears numerous victims, destruction and massive displacement of the population.

According to some NGOs and some refugees, abuses are intensifying in Tigray.

Publicity

Read more

With our correspondents in Addis Ababa,

, 

The fighting has now been taking place in the province of Tigray, in the north of the country, for eleven days.

Observers fear a large-scale war that is unfolding in silence and out of sight since the telecommunications shutdown.

After the Mai-Kadra massacre earlier this week attributed to Tigrayan soldiers, refugees in Sudan also reported atrocities, abuses, inter-ethnic violence as well as civilians who fell under bombardment by government forces.

The UN is alarmed by the voice of its High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who speaks of possible war crimes.

She reiterated her call for a ceasefire, as did Tibor Nagy, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.

However, the fighting continues in the North.

Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen even believes that victory will be very quick.

With these massacres, observers fear an escalation of inter-ethnic tensions.

In a report cited by Reuters, the World Food Program says the Ethiopian police have asked it to submit a list of its employees of Tigrayan origin.

False, according to the government, which claims to have wanted to arrest TPLF agents infiltrated into international organizations.

Identity checks are also very thorough at Addis Ababa airport.

Several sources report checks on an ethnic basis which have already led to a refusal to leave the territory for several individuals.

The African Union sacked its security chief on Wednesday at the request of the Ethiopian government.

The Tigrayan general would be disloyal to the government.

The request was accepted by the AU within 24 hours.

► Read also:

The exodus of Ethiopian civilians to Sudan continues

For two days, the fighting in the Tigray region has not been audible on the Sudanese side.

But

to the border

.

In less than a week, they are about 15,000 to have crossed it.

And again according to the UN refugee agency, nearly half are children.

In the emergency, NGOs set up some tents.

But many sleep in makeshift shelters or on the ground.

The Sudanese authorities do not want them to settle so close to the border.

They decided to transfer them 70 kilometers away, to the south, to Um Rakuba camp.

The Sudanese Red Crescent is hard at work to prepare the ground.

The UN has offered to charter planes to transport them, but Red Crescent teams say it would be extremely difficult to land them nearby.

There remains the option of transferring them by road, some are already on the way, but the journey would take about ten hours on bumpy roads.

On the Ethiopian side, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assured that he had regained control of the border area and called on the refugees to return to the country.

But that does not stop the exodus of part of the Ethiopian population towards Sudan which fears having to accommodate up to 200,000 refugees in the coming weeks.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Ethiopia

On the same subject

Ethiopia: Amnesty International denounces "massacre of civilians" in Tigray region

Sudan faces the headache of welcoming Ethiopian refugees

Ethiopia: journalists and army officers arrested in Addis Ababa