Thursday, May 27, 2021
“I am deeply concerned”
Biden calls for a ceasefire in Tigray
In the Ethiopian region of Tigray, the situation of the people is getting worse every day. The US has already announced sanctions against those involved in the conflict. Now US President Biden is calling for a ceasefire: “The massive human rights violations must stop.”
US President Joe Biden has called for a ceasefire and an end to human rights violations in the Ethiopian conflict region of Tigray. “I am deeply concerned about the escalating violence and the hardening of regional and ethnic divisions in several parts of Ethiopia,” said Biden. “The massive human rights violations in Tigray, including widespread sexual violence, are unacceptable and must stop,” stressed the US President.
The UN had previously been alarmed by mass arrests in several refugee camps in the region. Thousands of displaced people had fled again after the incidents in which soldiers from Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea were alleged to have been involved. The UN refugee agency UNHCR was “deeply concerned,” said spokeswoman Elisabeth Haslund. The situation is “traumatic” not only for the relatives of the missing, but for all refugees in Shire. Thousands of people have since left the informal camps in the city “because they no longer feel safe”.
The aid organization Doctors Without Borders also stated that many people had fled again “to seek protection in other areas”. MSF expressed “deeply concerned” about the safety of Shire camp residents and the supply situation for refugees.
The US had already announced sanctions on Sunday, including visa restrictions against those involved in the conflict. Ethiopian government troops launched an offensive against the People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in November. Since then, the region’s estimated six million inhabitants have largely been cut off from the rest of the world.
In the course of the conflict, soldiers from neighboring Eritrea also marched in, accused of massacre of the civilian population and sexual violence against women. The fighting continues more than six months after the entry of the Ethiopian troops. Experts warn of an impending humanitarian catastrophe.
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