Media Roll-Up: April 12-18
Ethnic Cleansing In Ethiopia: ‘Their Aim Is to Erase Tigray’ VOA, April 16th, 2021 Seid Mussa Omar is Tigrayan. He said only 10 Tigrayans remained of about 400 who worked with him at a hospital in northern Ethiopia. The rest were killed or fled.
Eritrean Troops Tigray crisis worsening with no withdrawal of Eritrean troops in sight: UN DW, April 16th, 2021 The UN humanitarian chief has said that sexual violence and starvation were being used as weapons of war in Ethiopia's Tigray. He urged Eritrea to make good on its pledge and recall its troops. Eritrea confirms its troops are fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray Al Jazeera, April 17th, 2021 Both sides had denied Eritreans were involved, contradicting testimony from residents, rights groups, aid workers. Atrocities by Eritrean Troops Continue in Tigray, U.N. Says Declan Walsh, April 16th, The New York Times Despite a promise to leave, Eritrea's troops remain in northern Ethiopia, aiding the Ethiopian government campaign there, a senior U.N. official told the Security Council. No proof of Eritrean troops’ Tigray exit, crisis worsening: UN Al Jazeera, April 15th, 2021 The United Nations and its aid partners have seen no proof of a declared withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, according to the world body’s top humanitarian official, who also warned the situation in the embattled region has deteriorated. Eritrean troops open fire in Tigray’s Adwa, kill 3: Rights group Al Jazeera, April 14th, 2021 Eritrean soldiers have opened fire on civilians in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, killing three people and wounding at least 19, according to Amnesty International. US calls for Eritrea's immediate exit from Ethiopia BBC Monitoring Africa, April 15th, 2021 The US envoy to the United Nations has called for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia "immediately" after reports of rape and sexual violence.
Politics & Crisis Brutal conflict in Tigray threatens breakup of Ethiopia Jean Shaoul, April 12th, 2021, World Socialist Website Bloody conflict in Tigray, one of Ethiopia’s semi-autonomous, ethnically defined provinces in the north of the country, is fuelling support for secession from Ethiopia’s federal state. The World Bank should not fund Ethiopia’s war in Tigray Alex de Waal, April 12th, 2021, The Financial Times This month, Ethiopia, a low-income country facing economic difficulties, is making its case for a financial bailout at the spring meetings of the World Bank and IMF.
Gender and Sexual Based Violence UPDATE 2-Sexual violence being used as weapon of war in Ethiopia's Tigray, U.N. says Reuters, April 15th, 2021 Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war in Ethiopia's Tigray, the U.N. aid chief told the Security Council on Thursday, prompting the U.S. envoy to challenge the body's silence, asking: "Do African lives not matter as much as those experiencing conflict in other countries?"
Famine UN: Hunger, Rape Rising in Ethiopia's Tigray Margaret Besheer, April 15th, 2021, VOA The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Thursday that an already dire situation in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region is getting worse five months into the conflict, with hunger and sexual violence rising and no sign of an Eritrean troop withdrawal.