


Ethiopia: Special Envoy and Ambassador to the U.S. Fitsum Arega letter to Rep. Meeks & Rep. McCaul – Re: Your Letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Ethiopia (31.03.2021)








There been focus on the refugees of the war, which has crossed from the Tigray Region into Sudan since the start of the civil-war in early November 2020. Now, we are in the end of March and nearly into April 2021. The months has gone by and now the ripple effect is happening.
All the three armies aim at one region and one common enemy has born some results. Maybe not the outcome that was anticipated, as this was supposed to be short war and proclaimed in final stages in the end of November 2020. Which by all means is far from to this day. As there are reports that more trucks of Eritrean Defence Force have been fighting inside Tigray. As Amhara Paramilitary Group Fano has been used and so has Ethiopian National Defence Force. All of these armies have targeted Tigray Defence Force and Samri.
At this point, the devestation and the total damage of the conflict is uncertain. That is done deliberately as the state has kept people in the dark. The state have downplayed and debunked any reporting done. There been campaigns to undermine reports and later verify things partly. Just like the Eritrean Foreign Ministry does as well. They are working in tandem doing this work and shading the lights on the crisis, one report at the time. No matter what is written and by whatever media house… they will in the end dismiss it and call it “fake”. Even if all the things said in it is later verified by state authorities or quoted by state officials.
What these has never targeted is the stats that United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have delivered to the public. The numbers I am now dropping and the horrific reports are coming from their latest report called: “Humanitarian Bulletin
Ethiopia – Issue #4 15– 28 March 2021”. Published today on the 31st March 2021.
What it states is this:
“Reports from the Regional Early Warning and Response Directorate and humanitarian partners on the ground reveal that the number of displaced people has steadily increased in the region. Currently, more than 140,000 people have been displaced from western Tigray to Shire and Adwa, bringing the cumulative number of displaced people in Tigray to more than 730,000 (according to the Regional Bureau of Labor and Social Affairs – BoLSA and the Early Warning Bureau). An assessment conducted by the ES/NFI Cluster and OCHA between 11-14 March in Shire, Aksum, and Adwa found a dire humanitarian situation in these areas” (OCHA, 31.03.2021).
We know the conflict has affected plenty when over 700,000 people have been directly touched and had to move. These is internally displaced within the region because of the massacres, open warfare, door-to-door raids and other atrocities happening. They are seeing armies invading their homes, villages and towns. Where the only reasonable choice is to flee and seek refugee somewhere else. Just like the ones who fled to Sudan and is in camps there.
The Law Enforcement Operation of Addis Ababa and Asmara is clearly not only hitting its intended enemies, but also causing a lot harm to bystanders. The conflict is creating a dangerous state and at such a level, which will take years to fix. The amount of people up-rooted and taken away from their homes is outrageous. It will take more than a quick fix to make up for the damage done in these months.
Abiy will be remembered for all this harm and hurt. It happened in his watch and he ordered it to happen together with his ally Afwerki. They are responsible as Heads of State and Warlords. These folks burned villages, extra-judicial killings and slaughtered citizens to prove a point. They did it annihilate TPLF. But is it worth scaring over 700,000 people away from their homesteads? How can leaders like this sleep at night?
When Abiy started the war in November 2020 he opened a Pandora’s box… and this is now one of the outcomes. We have no idea about how many who has died. We have now idea about how many soldiers, paramilitary or armed personnel on both sides who has lost their lives either. No idea about casualties in general. Neither, is there any sort of reporting on the starvation or the struggle to survive in the region either. Therefore, there is a lot of numbers missing.
But… the tally of IDPs says how reaching and what sort of impact it has. As people decide to leave their homes and find shelter elsewhere. That is not done with ease, but for fear of losing their lives if they stays. Therefore, by this alone. We know that this conflict is horrific and atrocities are occurs with the knowledge of the outside world. That is tragic, but sadly true. As we can only know what the eyes, witnesses and the bold reporters are telling. Which is limited and not it all. Therefore, this sort of Humanitarian Bulletin says more than any article would. It states what people are doing, as a last ditch resort to save themselves from the “hell” they used to call home. Peace.



















This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has gained access to the Shimelba and Hitsats refugee camps in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region for the first time since November 2020, amid ongoing security concerns.
During a joint mission to the area with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, we found both camps completely destroyed, and all the humanitarian facilities looted and vandalized.
In Hitsats, most of the shelters in an area known as zone A, as well as UNHCR’s offices and staff guest house, were found burnt to the ground. The mission confirmed what satellite imagery and accounts from refugees had indicated at the beginning of this year.
UNHCR is deeply concerned for the well-being of the Eritrean refugees who had been residing there, all of whom have fled the camps.
The joint mission was also able to visit Shiraro town; refugees are understood to be scattered in the area and in urgent need of safety and support. A subsequent mission will seek to identify the numbers living there and assess the possibility for UNHCR and Ethiopia’s Agency for Refugees and Returnee Affairs, ARRA, to deliver assistance and plan for voluntary relocation.
Of some 20,000 refugees that lived in the two northern camps of Hitsats and Shimelba prior the crisis, more than 7,000 have either made their own way or were assisted by Ethiopian authorities to reach the other two Eritrean refugee camps, Mai Aini and Adi Harush. In addition, we have so far been in contact with more than 2,000 refugees from Hitsats and Shimelba in Shire, Mekelle, Afar, and Addis Ababa.
In Mai Aini and Adi Harush camps, food and core relief supplies have been provided to the relocated refugees. They are currently living with relatives, in schools or other communal buildings in the camps which are already over-capacity, as well in some 500 newly-built emergency shelters. While another 100 shelters are under construction, they will not be sufficient. Urgent identification of alternative locations to accommodate more refugee arrivals is a priority, especially with the coming rainy season.
UNHCR’s individual reception, counselling and registration services have reopened in both camps. UNHCR and its partners are scaling up child protection and gender-based violence support services.
Local authorities have reported the presence of some 95,000 Ethiopians who are internally displaced within Shiraro’s administrative area. About 47,000 people were registered by authorities last month while the rest are estimated to have arrived since. To date, the vast majority of internally displaced people (IDPs) are living within the host community, and some 30,000 are living in five settlements. In Shimelba camp, the humanitarian team found over 2,000 IDPs and vulnerable host community members who had sought sanctuary in the camp.
All of the displaced people in Shiraro and Shimelba are in dire need of urgent life-saving assistance, including food, shelter, health care, water and sanitation. UNHCR reiterates the joint UN call for all parties to urgently enable the free and safe movement of affected people in search of safety and assistance, including across international and within national borders, regardless of their ethnic identification. We call for the right to seek asylum to be fully respected.