Friday

8th Dec 2023

Ethiopia creating 'famine' in Tigray, EU warns

Ethiopia's "siege" on its restive Tigray region is creating a "man-made famine", the European Commission has warned.

"This is not a ceasefire, it's a siege and starvation is being used as a weapon of war," EU crisis-management commissioner Janez Lenarčič said in the European Parliament on Tuesday (6 July).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"Famine is now a reality in Tigray for an estimated 900,000 people and another 1 million people are just one step away ... This famine is entirely man made and it's a disgrace to those who are responsible for it," he added.

The "siege" has seen Ethiopia close Tigray's borders, ban flights, destroy road and rail infrastructure, cut telecommunications, and prevent the entry of international aid workers, he said.

"Atrocities", such as systematic rape and extra-judicial killings, were also being seen in the conflict, in what "may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity", Lenarčič added.

Ethiopia recently announced a ceasefire after rebel forces in Tigray captured the regional capital, Mekelle, and other towns.

Anže Logar, Slovenia's foreign minister, also told MEPs on Tuesday the fighting was now "reduced in intensity, probably as an indication that the EDF [Ethiopian Defence Force] has withdrawn from most parts of the territory" and was "putting up little resistance".

Allied Eritrean forces had also retreated to border regions in the north of Tigray, while the government-allied Amhara militia had retreated to western areas, he said.

But after eight months of war, 91 percent of Tigray's population was "in need of urgent assistance", he estimated, speaking on behalf of Slovenia's EU presidency.

"We urgently need a full ceasefire by all parties," Logar said.

The EU has suspended budgetary aid to Ethiopia and threatened to blacklist officials who obstructed aid workers.

It was also spending some €118m on refugees who had crossed into neighbouring South Sudan, Lenarčič said.

And it has twice sent a special envoy, Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto, to try to broker peace talks and humanitarian access.

But his visits have given little cause for hope.

"When I met the Ethiopian leadership in February they really used this kind of language, that they are going to destroy the Tigrayans, they are going to wipe out the Tigrayans for 100 years," Haavisto told press on 18 June.

"I think that's very obvious, that we have to react, because it looks for us like ethnic cleansing. It is a very, very serious act if this is true," he said.

Haavisto's comments were a "hallucination of sorts or a lapse in memory of some kind", the Ethiopian foreign ministry said at the time.

Opinion

Will the EU take a stance for justice in Ethiopia?

Some EU and member states diplomats argue that they should give the Ethiopian government a chance to demonstrate its willingness to ensure justice. But they've also resigned themselves to a very low bar of domestic accountability.

Letter

Right of Reply: Ethiopian embassy responds to Human Rights Watch

In her article, Laetitia Bader expresses doubts about the Ethiopian government's ability to deliver justice. We would like to provide insight into Ethiopia's significant efforts in implementing transitional justice policies, fostering healing, and building a more inclusive and just society.

Latest News

  1. EU suggests visa-bans on Israeli settlers, following US example
  2. EU ministers prepare for all-night fiscal debate
  3. Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief
  4. Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?
  5. Crunch talks seek breakthrough on EU asylum overhaul
  6. Polish truck protest at Ukraine border disrupts war supplies
  7. 'Green' banks lend most to polluters, reveals ECB
  8. Tense EU-China summit showdown unlikely to bear fruit

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us