On Wednesday, the World Health Organization issued a cry of alarm about the humanitarian situation in Tigray, “the worst disaster in the world,” accusing the leaders of developed countries of neglecting the crisis in this region of Ethiopia, the scene of a deadly conflict between the government and the rebels.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has denounced the “unimaginable cruelty” against six million people living in this region in northern Ethiopia whose powers are in conflict with the federal government.
France Press agency
The conflict began in November 2020 when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military operation in the region to oust the Tigrayan rebel authorities from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, accusing them of attacking federal army camps.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the region has suffered from food shortages and significantly reduced access to basic services such as electricity, telecommunications and banking.
“The result: the population of Tigray faces multiple epidemics of malaria, anthrax, cholera, diarrhea and other diseases,” lamented Mr. Tedros, himself from Tigray, at a press conference in Geneva.
France Press agency
The state of “unimaginable cruelty” must end. Tedros said the only solution is peace, calling on the Ethiopian government to resolve the conflict “in a peaceful way”.
Fighting has subsided since the humanitarian truce was declared at the end of March, allowing international aid convoys to resume to Tigray.
But according to Mr. Tedros, food and medicine only reach the area in droplets. He said that basic services must be restored to restore confidence in the peace negotiations.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization also suggested that discrimination and racism could explain why the situation in Tigray remains indifferent, despite it being “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world”.
France Press agency
Perhaps the reason is the color of the skin of the Tigrayans. In recent months, I have not heard a head of state mention the situation in Tigray anywhere, especially in the developed world. why ? I think we know that.”
“It’s the worst catastrophe in the world and I’m talking to you (…) It’s the pure truth,” he said.
He added that the drought that hit the Horn of Africa exacerbates the crisis.
