Full-Scale Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding In Ethiopia – UN

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

The United Nations, on Tuesday, said a full-blown humanitarian crisis was unfolding in northern Ethiopia, where thousands of people each day are fleeing the conflict in the Tigray region

AFP reports that as international pressure mounted over his campaign against the dissident region, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared operations were entering a “final” phase, and his government confirmed fresh airstrikes near the Tigray capital, Mekele.

Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, announced a military campaign on November 4, saying it came in response to attacks by the local ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), on federal military camps.

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The United Nations refugee agency said around 27,000 Ethiopians have fled across the border into Sudan — a figure now rising by around 4,000 people each day.

“A full-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding,” spokesman Babar Baloch told a virtual press briefing from Geneva.

“Refugees fleeing the fighting continue to arrive exhausted from the long trek to safety, with few belongings.”

Those arriving in Sudan recounted terrifying scenes of artillery barrages and massacres.

“I saw bodies dismembered by the explosions,” said Ganet Gazerdier, 75, whose home was destroyed in the town of Humera, and finds herself at a refugee camp in eastern Sudan.

“Other bodies were rotting, lying on the road, murdered with a knife”, she added.