Ethiopia: massacres and humanitarian disaster in Tigray
Displaced children in western Tigray waiting to receive a meal, February 24, 2021. © EDUARDO SOTERAS / AFP
Text by: Sébastien Nemeth Follow
5 mins
Since the beginning of November, the federal army has launched a large-scale military operation against the TPLF, the power of Tigray, the northern province located on the border with Eritrea.
On November 28, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed claimed victory, but the violence continues.
Many mass crimes have come to light.
Each camp is implicated, the humanitarian situation is disastrous and the clashes are now multi-faceted.
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From our correspondent in Nairobi,
One figure speaks for itself: 4.5 million people in need of humanitarian aid. Everywhere in Tigray, the continuation of the conflict only worsens the situation. Result: the camps for displaced people saturate. Example of the capital Mekele, where there are more than twenty sites, sometimes housing more than 10,000 people. Hadoush coordinates that of Mayweli Primary School, the last camp opened in town.
“
We have a lot of hygiene problems, people are hungry,” he
explains.
The locals are helping us.
But we lack everything.
We need food, beds.
Last night a woman about to give birth died because there was no ambulance.
I used to be a farmer.
Militiamen arrived in the village.
They looted and killed.
I have seen pregnant women stabbed to death.
I was so shocked I took my family and fled.
I didn't take anything, we just ran.
"
The fear of Eritrean incursions
Access for humanitarian aid has improved, but the obstacles are still enormous. The representative of an NGO speaks of numerous blockages still at the dams installed all over the country. Despite the authorizations, many convoys are still blocked, in particular by the Eritrean army.
"
The Eritreans set up a dam in Samra three months ago," said
Giday, a bus driver who runs between Mekele and Samra, in the southwest of the capital.
One day, they took me out and beat me up, shouting at me never to come back.
So now I'm stopping here at Melvey.
I'm still very scared, because the Eritreans sometimes make inroads here.
So on the road, I ask the drivers I meet about the situation.
If the soldiers are too close, I turn back.
"
►Also read: In Ethiopia, HRW deplores the authorities' "denial" of the Aksum massacre
"
They were shooting at random in the crowd
"
After months of denial, on March 26, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed finally recognized the presence of Eritreans in Tigray. He had presented their operation as self-defense following TPLF bombardments on Eritrean territory. The head of government had also promised that they would leave. But two months later, they're still there. An official source explains that a plan must first be drawn up for Ethiopian soldiers to occupy the positions held by the Eritreans once the latter have left. And besides, this is where part of the solution lies according to the international community: the departure of the Eritreans, because they are accused of multiple crimes.
"
The Eritreans were shooting at random in the crowd,"
describes Gerense Hailu, who came from Sheraro in the west and took refuge in a primary school in Mekele.
I lay down among the corpses and played dead for a whole day.
At night I got up and left.
My 13 year old son was dead.
I couldn't even bury him.
It took five months to get here.
I took the small roads, from village to village.
It was very hard.
The inhabitants gave me a little to eat.
But many did not even have enough to survive.
"
Feeling of being under siege
The Tigray conflict is today a multi-faceted war.
In the province are deployed the Ethiopian Federal Army, the Eritrean Army and in addition, Amhara forces, from the neighboring region of Tigray, who have conquered parts of the west and south of the region.
All of this makes the Tigrayans feel as though they are under siege.
Today, according to experts, the TPLF has consolidated its presence in rural areas.
It receives support from the population, whose desire for independence from Tigray is growing over time.
And the help given by Eritrea and the Amharas made many join the resistance.
This conflict would not have a military solution and only a dialogue could end the crisis.
Except that for the moment, no talking seems possible.
►Also read: RFI exclusivity - Ethiopia: the inhabitants of Tuhuli, in Tigray, tell hell
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