Media Roll-up: July 26th-August 9th
Politics
Sudan recalls ambassador to Ethiopia amid frayed ties
Al Jazeera, August 8th, 2021
Khartoum’s decision comes days after Addis Ababa rejected Sudan’s offer to mediate in the ongoing conflict in Tigray.
Similar Articles: Sudan orders envoy to Ethiopia home amid frayed ties (Associated Press)
US warns Ethiopia of 'dehumanizing rhetoric' on Tigray
Cara Anna, August 4th, 2021, Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development expressed concern Wednesday about the “dehumanizing rhetoric” used by Ethiopia’s leaders amid the nine-month conflict in the Tigray region, whose forces last month were described as “weeds" and “cancer” by the country’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.
Refugees
Refugees find more bodies in river separating Tigray, Sudan
Mohaned Awad & Samy Magdy, August 7th, 2021, Associated Press
WAD EL-HILU, Sudan (AP) — Six more bodies have been found floating down the river separating Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region from Sudan, refugees and a physician said on Saturday. They urged Sudanese authorities and the U.N. to help in search efforts.
At least 30 bodies float down river between Ethiopia's Tigray and Sudan
CNN, August 3rd, 2021, Reuters
At least 30 corpses have washed up on the Sudanese banks of a river that abuts Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray, according to two Ethiopian refugees and four Sudanese witnesses who told Reuters on Monday they had retrieved the bodies.
Eritrean refugees demand protection amid Tigray war
Kaleab Girma, July 29th, 2021, Al Jazeera
Hundreds rally in the Ethiopian capital demanding protection for thousands of fellow Eritrean refugees stuck in Tigray.
Conflict
Amhara official says offensive against Tigray forces imminent
Al Jazeera, August 6th, 2021
Tigray forces in recent weeks crossed into Amhara and Afar regions, opening a new front in the months-long conflict.
Tigray forces vow 'warm welcome' in face of new offensive
Cara Anna, Associated Press, August 6th, 2021, Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia’s spreading Tigray conflict faced a dangerous escalation Friday as an Amhara regional official said Amhara forces will launch an offensive on Saturday against Tigray forces who have entered the region and taken control of a town hosting a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tigrayan fighters reportedly seize control of UN World Heritage Site in Ethiopia
Richard Roth, Michael Conte and Sarah Dean, August 6th, 2021, CNN
Fighters from Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region have seized control of a UN World Heritage Site in a neighboring region, Reuters and AFP reported, citing eyewitnesses.
Similar Articles: Residents say Tigray rebels take control of UNESCO site Lalibela (Al Jazeera)
USAID chief Power says Tigray rebels should exit border regions
Al Jazeera, August 4th, 2021
The call comes as the conflict threatens to spill over to other parts of the country amid humanitarian crisis.
Ethiopia's crisis worsens as war spreads
Geoffrey York, August 3rd, 2021, The Globe and Mail
Ethiopia's nine-month-old war in Tigray is spilling across regional boundaries to new parts of the country, triggering growing fears of starvation and atrocities as fresh reports emerge of another possible massacre.
This Ethiopian Road Is a Lifeline for Millions. Now It’s Blocked.
Declan Walsh, August 9th, 2021, International New York Times
AFAR, Ethiopia — The road, a 300-mile strip of tarmac that passes through some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth, is the only way into a conflict-torn region where millions of Ethiopians face the threat of mass starvation.
As Tigray war intensifies, Ethiopia parades new army recruits
Reuters, July 27th, 2021
ADDIS ABABA, July 27 (Reuters) - Thousands of Ethiopian army recruits paraded in Addis Ababa on Tuesday to bid farewell before leaving for training, potential future participants in a bloody eight-month-old conflict in the north that continues to spread and intensify.
Young men in Ethiopia's Amhara start to mobilise against Tigray forces
Reuters, July 26th, 2021
NAIROBI/ADDIS ABABA, July 26 (Reuters) - Residents of Ethiopia's Amhara region said on Monday some young men were responding to a weekend call to arms by their president, as Amhara's government denied that forces from neighbouring Tigray had advanced further into the region.
Humanitarian Aid
Claims of bias against aid workers in Tigray ‘dangerous’, says UN
Al Jazeera, August 4th, 2021
Martin Griffiths, during visit to Ethiopia, says ‘blanket’ accusations are ‘unfair’ and ‘need to stop’.
Ethiopia suspends work of 2 aid groups active in Tigray
Cara Anna, August 3rd, 2021, Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Two international aid groups said Tuesday that the Ethiopian government had suspended part or all of their operations, while the United Nations humanitarian chief warned Ethiopian authorities that blanket accusations against aid workers in the country’s embattled Tigray region and elsewhere are “dangerous” and must stop.
New push for Tigray access as UN, US aid officials visit Ethiopia
Al Jazeera, July 30th, 2021
Hundreds of thousands of people in war-battered region face the world’s worst famine crisis in 10 years.
US genocide expert to press Ethiopia on Tigray aid blockade
Cara Anna, July 29th, 2021, Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The U.S. official who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on genocide is visiting Ethiopia next week to press the government to lift what the U.S. calls a blockade on humanitarian aid to the conflict-hit Tigray region, where hundreds of thousands of people now face deadly famine.
Students
Ethiopian parents living in agony as students stranded in Tigray
Samuel Getachew, August 1st, 2021, Al Jazeera
Parents call on government and United Nations to help bring to safety their children studying in conflict-torn region.
Famine
UN warns hunger is expected to rise in 23 global hotspots
Edit M. Lederer, July 30th, 2021, Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Hunger is expected to rise in 23 global hotspots in the next three months with the highest alerts for “catastrophic" situations in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, southern Madagascar, Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria, two U.N. agencies warned Friday.
UN: 100,000 children in Ethiopia's Tigray face deadly hunger
Cara Anna, July 30th, 2021, Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — More than 100,000 children in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region could face the most extreme and life-threatening form of malnutrition in the next year, the United Nations children’s agency warned on Friday, as humanitarian aid remains blocked from the region of some 6 million people.
Rob Picheta, James Briggs and Larry Madowo, July 30th, 2021, CNN
The UN World Food Programme said it expected to run out of food in the war-torn Ethiopian region of Tigray on Friday, and that hundreds of thousands of people in the area were on the brink of famine.
UPDATE 1-Food, water running out in Tigray refugee camps - UN
Stephanie Nebehay, July 27th, 2021, Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA, July 27 (Reuters) - Some 24,000 Eritrean refugees are trapped in two camps in Ethiopia's Tigray region, cut off from humanitarian aid, and their food rations may have run out, the United Nations said on Tuesday.