Conflict in Ethiopia: UN announces new humanitarian agreement
A view of Mekele, capital of Tigray, Ethiopia.
AFP / Archives
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Faced with the conflict in the Ethiopian province of Tigray, the international community is increasingly concerned about the situation of civilians.
After the failure of the agreement between the UN and Addis Ababa last week, a new humanitarian agreement was reached on Wednesday.
The Secretary General of the United Nations announces the establishment of joint needs assessment missions.
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According to Antonio Guterres, this second agreement will
make it
possible “
to ensure that there is full access to the entire territory and a full capacity to begin humanitarian operations based on real needs and without any possible discrimination
.
The UN Secretary General was endorsed by the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who participated in the press briefing.
It is obviously difficult to agree
on the precise perimeter of the humanitarian missions
which are preparing to intervene in Tigray.
On Sunday, as part of a supposedly "
unfettered
" access, under the terms of the first agreement between the UN and Ethiopia, a humanitarian team was shot and arrested by soldiers, while searching for to access the Eritrean refugee camp at Shimelba.
A camp from which we have no news and where we fear “
kidnappings
” and abuses against refugees.
"
Indiscriminate attacks on civilians
"
For her part, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, declared that "
the situation in Ethiopia
" is "
uncontrollable and with terrible repercussions on civilians
".
She reported "
indiscriminate attacks on civilians, civilian targets, looting, kidnappings and sexual violence against women and girls
."
And also of “
forced recruitment of Tigrayans to fight against their own community
”.
During his press conference, Antonio Gutteres also spoke of
the involvement of the Eritrean army in Tigray
.
He also carefully chose his words.
He says he has "
no proof
" of the presence of the Eritrean army in Ethiopia.
“
I asked Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed about this
,” he replied to a journalist, “
and he assured me that Eritrean forces did not enter Tigray territory.
According to what Abiy Ahmed told him, they would only be present in the localities which had been assigned to Eritrea by an arbitration commission after the 1998-2000 war, that is to say Badmé, Zalambessa and several. sectors of the border, contradicting many testimonies collected in recent days.
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