The Associated Press: Great Disaster Awaits Ethiopia

The Associated Press has published a lengthy report on the details of that great disaster that awaits Ethiopia if the conflict in Tigray continues for nearly a month.

He explained that this disaster is an unprecedented humanitarian and health disaster in that region, which is suffering greatly in the fight against one of the worst outbreaks of the new Corona virus in Africa, and that local humanitarian services may reach the point of collapse, according to quotes “Sputnik” from the US agency.

The US agency noted that tens of thousands of people fleeing the conflict between Tigray forces and Ethiopian federal forces crossed into neighboring Sudan, where the number of people infected with Coronavirus and other viruses and other diseases across the country is increasing. quickly.

More than 45,000 refugees from the Tigrayan conflict now live in remote parts of Sudan, where they have taken refuge in overcrowded camps with no capacity to test or treat for the coronavirus.

The agency quoted one of the refugees, Halim, as saying more than 60 people were crammed into the means of transportation that brought them from Hamiyat, on the Sudanese side of a major border crossing, adding: “With the Covid 19 outbreak , this is not a comfortable situation at all in these cases or camps. ” .

Many camp residents are forced to share shelters and queues to obtain food and money and to register with various aid agencies. There are some face masks that can be viewed or are available for distribution.

The agency said that in Umm Rukuba camp, Javanshir Hajiyev told the Aid Organization, “Mercy Group”, “The Associated Press” that the number of chest infections is high, but that humanitarian workers have no materials to test for the Corona virus.

But despite this, few refugees see the epidemic as their main concern, having witnessed deadly attacks while fleeing Ethiopia, and now living in fear for family members left behind.

“I just escaped the war,” said one of them, Jabri Matin. I think a war is worse than a pandemic. “

“The virus outbreak poses a threat, but the harsh conditions in refugee camps make people forget their dangers as they face hunger, heat and thirst,” he said.

But the rise in virus cases in Sudan has raised fears that a new blockade could be imposed at the national level, including measures that could prevent more refugees from crossing the border.

“People are fleeing conflict and violence to save their lives, so we have a difficult dilemma, but with the right health measures, the policy of open borders can be preserved,” said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, late last week on the Tigrayan conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory in the month-long conflict late last week, but fighting between federal and regional forces continued.

According to humanitarian officials, the crisis in the Tigray region of 6 million people remains critical, as medical supplies, including those needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic, have dwindled.

“The epidemic is still with us, despite the fighting and the new humanitarian crisis unfolding in its wake,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said recently, after visiting health centers in the neighboring regions of Tigray and Amhara.

The ICRC’s Maria Soledad said that the largest hospital in northern Ethiopia, in Tigray’s capital Mekele, “is running out of stitches, antibiotics, blood thinners, painkillers and even gloves.”

Ethiopia surpassed 100,000 confirmed infections last month, shortly after the bloody conflict began.

All humanitarian aid to the Tigray region, from medical supplies to food, has been banned from the beginning of the fighting, to the growing plight of the humanitarian community and health experts alike.

The United Nations said on Wednesday it had signed an agreement with the Ethiopian government to allow aid to reach Tigray, but only to those areas under the control of the federal government, which will take time as the fighting continues.

The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, said humanitarian workers still had “many concerns” as they prepared to return to the Tigray region, as there was little information on how the conflict affected facilities and infrastructure in local health, or the outbreak and spread of the disease.

Ethiopia’s Health Minister Leah Tadesse did not respond to a request for comment and details on whether the ministry had received updates from the region on new infections in the past month.

“It is clear that an effective response to epidemic outbreaks always faces challenges when there is instability,” John Nkengasung, director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently told reporters.

He added that the coronavirus situation in Ethiopia would be very difficult to control. “

For example, Nkengasung said it took more than two years to end the recent Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo under constant threat of attack from rebel groups despite having “our best tools” against the disease, including new vaccines. .

It took just under three months to end the outbreak at a later time in the calmer western Congo, Nkengasung said.