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About a month after the offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) began, the Ethiopian government is granting access to Tigray’s more than five million residents and refugees living there.
Geneva / Addis Ababa (dpa) – According to the UN, the Ethiopian government wants to allow humanitarian aid in the troubled region of Tigray. The UN and Addis Ababa have reached an agreement, the UN Emergency Relief Office announced Wednesday.
This establishes that humanitarian workers have “unimpeded, sustainable and safe” access to areas of Tigray that are under government control. For example, the more than five million people in Tigray and the refugees who live there should have access to humanitarian aid after a month of fighting.
Previously, the UN and humanitarian organizations had repeatedly criticized that aid workers had no access to Tigray and that, due to limited communication, little was known about the situation on the ground. It wasn’t until Monday that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned that refugee camps in Tigray with Eritrean residents would run out of food.
About a month ago, the Ethiopian government launched an offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which was in power in Tigray. Telephone and Internet connections were cut, roads were blocked, and water and electricity supplies were limited. According to UNHCR, about 46,000 people have fled the fighting to neighboring Sudan. Last weekend, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that Tigray’s capital Mekelle had been captured and that the offensive was over. However, it is unclear whether the fighting will continue in some areas. Furthermore, it is not known which part of Tigray actually controls the Ethiopian armed forces.
The conflict is caused by tensions between Tigray and the central government. The TPLF ruled Ethiopia for more than 25 years until Abiy came to power in 2018 and overthrew the TPLF. Many people in Tigray do not feel represented by the central government and demand more autonomy. There are a number of ethnic tensions in Ethiopia with its approximately 112 million people.
