The military crisis in northern Ethiopia has lasted for almost a year, and the humanitarian and political consequences are dramatic. Now there is also a conflict between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and the United Nations. General Secretary António Guterres personally raised criticism in the Security Council in a sharp tone - culminating in the accusation “that Ethiopia violates international law”. It is about how the government in Addis Ababa deals with UN employees. Since November 2020 Abiy has been taking military action against the "People's Liberation Front of Tigray" (TPLF), which had the say in the northern region and in the country for years. Reports of victory turned out to be premature, since the spring the forces of the former rebel movement TPLF succeeded into push back the Ethiopian army and forces allied with it from Eritrea.

Christian Meier

Editor in politics.

  • Follow I follow

The conflict, which has been waged with great severity, is mainly being carried out at the back of the population, with thousands killed and millions displaced.

According to UN figures, almost seven million people in Tigray and the surrounding regions are now dependent on help, and around 400,000 people are acutely hungry.

Four out of five pregnant women are acutely malnourished.

The UN speaks of the worst hunger crisis in a decade.

Not only militarily, but also on the diplomatic front, Prime Minister Abiy had to accept setbacks: Anger among allies over the uncompromising course of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate grew.

The EU suspended payments and only recently the United States threatened Ethiopia with (further) sanctions.

Escalation in the past week

Criticism also increased from the UN that not enough humanitarian aid was reaching Tigray;

the TPLF and the Ethiopian government blame the other party to the conflict.

The escalation occurred last week: Addis Ababa expelled seven high-ranking UN representatives for alleged interference in internal affairs and partisanship in favor of the TPLF.

Among them were the country directors of the children's aid organization UNICEF and the emergency aid agency UNOCHA.

Guterres was shocked.

In a special session of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, he described the move as "particularly disturbing" in view of the hunger crisis in Ethiopia.

Guterres asked the present UN ambassador of Ethiopia, Taye Atske Selassie, to provide written evidence for the specific allegations. The Portuguese later said to journalists: "It is my duty to defend the honor of the United Nations." The American UN ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, also expressed clear criticism; she spoke of attempts at intimidation. It was only in August that the non-governmental organizations “Doctors Without Borders” and the Norwegian Refugee Council reported that they had been asked by the Ethiopian government to stop their activities. Guterres has now again called for unhindered access for humanitarian aid workers.

In the meantime, Abiy Ahmed is trying to smooth things over, at least domestically.

On Monday he was sworn in for a second five-year term;

Abiy's “Prosperity Party” had won the parliamentary election in the summer.

The Prime Minister has now awarded several cabinet positions to opposition politicians.

He appointed his party colleague Abraham Belay as the new defense minister - he had led the interim government in Tigray since May before the TPLF recaptured the regional capital Mekelle in June.