UN warns that Ethiopia’s Tigray By Reuters is worsening hunger and more clashes

By Michelle Nichols and Doyinsola Oladipo

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Top UN officials warned the Security Council on Friday that more than 400,000 people in the Ethiopian Tigray were starving and at risk of further fighting in the region, despite a unilateral ceasefire by the federal government.

After six private discussions, the Security Council held its first public meeting since fighting between government forces began in November, backed by troops around Eritrea and TPLF fighters with Tigray’s former governing party.

UN Acting Head of Action Ramesh Rajasingham told the council that the humanitarian situation in Tigray has worsened “tremendously” in recent weeks, with the number of people now suffering from hunger rising by around 50,000.

“It is estimated that more than 400,000 people have gone hungry and another 1.8 million people are on the verge of starvation. Some suggest the number is even higher. 33,000 children are severely malnourished,” he said.

The Ethiopian government declared a unilateral ceasefire on Monday, and the TPLF dismissed it as a joke. In some places, there are reports of ongoing incidents, as international pressure is mounting for all parties to back down.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the Ethiopian government “intends to make real use of the ceasefire to address the humanitarian disaster,” and warned that denial of aid “is not an indicator of a humanitarian ceasefire, but of a siege.”

Ethiopian UN Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie Amde told reporters after addressing the council that the purpose of the ceasefire is “not to lay siege, it is to save lives.”

Amde questioned the need for a public safety council meeting, saying the body had called for a ceasefire to improve access to aid and “should encourage our friends to increase the pressure they did not provide and helped.” The government has said it hopes the ceasefire could also lead to dialogue.

Thomas-Greenfield has called on the parties to the conflict to “seize this moment” by warning that failure to do so could have dire consequences for Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.

Rosemary DiCarlo, head of UN policy and peacebuilding, said Eritrean forces had retreated to areas near the border and continued in areas west of Tigray that had hijacked forces in the neighboring Amhara region.

“In short, there is a possibility of further and rapid deterioration in the security situation, which is very worrying,” he told the council, urging the TPLF to approve the ceasefire and withdraw the Eritrean troops completely.

While Russia and China did not oppose the public meeting on Tigray on Friday, they made it clear that they believed the conflict was an internal matter for Ethiopia. The Russian ambassador to the UN said: “We believe that the intervention of the Security Council in resolving it is detrimental.”

Russia and China are both veto powers of the councils, along with the United States, France and Britain.