According to the UN, about 2.3 million refugee children are without adequate food, water, and medicine in northern Ethiopia. The already existent humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region worsened as a result of ongoing violence between the Ethiopian government and Tigray fighters. This left refugees without resources as humanitarian agencies were not being granted permission to access the area, despite the supposed "deals with the Ethiopian government" to prevent this situation arising. Those at high risk included 96,000 Eritreans divided between four refugee camps in Tigray.
ONGOING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
The crisis arose out of political conflict which started in 1994, when Ethiopia’s system of government changed to a federal system. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was an influential political party in its foundation. When Abiy Ahmed became the Ethiopian Prime Minister, key figures from the Tigray party were removed from power due to concerns surrounding human rights issues. Tension between the Government and TPLF descended into violence in November 2020.
The November conflict in Tigray sparked as a result of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, ordering a military offense against regional forces in Tigray, in response to an attack on military base housing government troops in the region.
A humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia was already in existence prior to the development of this conflict, as refugees had fled there during the Eritrean-Ethiopian war, which ended in 2018, as a result of their homes being taken over by the Ethiopian military.
The lack of resources in Tigray’s refugee camps was also a problem long before the current conflict. This was due overcrowding, leading to shortages of food and water. When the violence started, the problem worsened as aid workers were evacuated from the camps due to increased danger. This left many underaged refugees alone and feeling unsafe due to worries about getting caught amidst the fighting. Further food and fuel shortages, as well as power blackouts leading to communications being cut off have worsened the crisis.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Ethiopia report on 11 November stated that “with no relief access to Tigray, health and other emergency supplies have no way to make it into the region making prepositioning/re-stocking impossible”. Although the UN Refugee Agency delivered two months of rations to the camps in Tigray in October, it was reported by the United Nations to be close to running out on the 1 December. This led to growing concerns about issues such as malnutrition and starvation.
GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSE
The Ethiopian government says that it is in control of the Tigray region and that the conflict is now over, but sporadic fighting is still taking place. There were developments on the 2 December 2020, when Ethiopia agreed to give the United Nations "unimpeded” access to deliver humanitarian aid to Tigray after a month of war. This led to 25,000 Eritean refugees in the Adi Harush and Mai-Ayni camps receiving food by the end of December. The Humanitarian Response Plan for Northern Ethiopia has now been updated to "seek US$116.5 million to address the immediate needs of an estimated 2.3 million people (1.3 million new caseloads due to the conflict and over 950,000 existing caseload, including refugees)”.
Despite the aid being put in place, the humanitarian crisis in Tigray is likely to worsen, as, if the conflict cannot be controlled, then other African countries, such as Eritrea, are likely to become involved, meaning that there will be more fighting taking place and fewer safe countries for the refugees to flee to. While there is a slim possibility of a ceasefire, which would allow aid to get to the refugees as a result of safe access to Tigray, the dire reality is that the humanitarian crisis is likely to escalate further, putting more refugees at risk from deaths through means such as starvation.
Harriet is a Theology undergraduate student at Durham University. Once she has graduated from Durham, she is hoping to do a Masters in Law which will include the conversion course. Harriet hopes to pursue a career in human rights law after qualifying as a solicitor and has a particular interest in feminism and gender based violence.