Over 400k People In Ethiopia’s Tigray Now in Famine

By Staff, Agencies

Top United Nations [UN] officials warned the Security Council that more than 400,000 people in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are now in famine, adding that there was a risk of more clashes in the region despite a unilateral ceasefire by the federal government.

After six private discussions on Friday, the Security Council held its first public meeting since fighting broke out in November between government forces, backed by troops from neighboring Eritrea, and TPLF fighters with Tigray’s former ruling party.

Acting UN aid Chief Ramesh Rajasingham told the council that the humanitarian situation in Tigray had “worsened dramatically” in recent weeks with an increase of 50,000 in the number of people now suffering famine.

“More than 400,000 people are estimated to have crossed the threshold into famine and another 1.8 million people are on the brink of famine. Some are suggesting that the numbers are even higher. Thirty-three thousand children are severely malnourished,” he said.

The Ethiopian government declared a unilateral ceasefire on Monday, which the TPLF dismissed as a joke. There are reports of continued clashes in some places as pressure builds internationally for all sides to pull back.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Ethiopia’s government must demonstrate “it truly intends to use the ceasefire to address the humanitarian catastrophe,” warning that any denial of aid access is “not an indication of a humanitarian ceasefire, but of a siege.”

Ethiopia’s UN ambassador, Taye Atske Selassie Amde, told reporters after he addressed the council that the purpose of the ceasefire “is not to make a siege, it is to save lives.”