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Category: Resource

The Economist: After two months of war, Tigray faces starvation

Posted on by Sami Mulaw

Several other senior tplf figures have been killed by the army. Among them was Seyoum Mesfin, Ethiopia’s longest-serving foreign minister. The killings and arrests appear to have left the tplf in disarray. Its leaders, including the ousted president of the Tigray region, Debretsion Gebremichael, have been in hiding for over a month. Although the tplf still controls sizeable swathes of rural Tigray, it holds no towns or cities. Allies of Abiy, who has already declared victory, believe it is only a matter of time before the rest of what he calls the “junta” are captured or killed.

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REUTERS: ‘Choose – I kill you or rape you’: abuse accusations surge in Ethiopia’s war

Posted on by Eyasu Berhe

“The soldier … forced a gun on her and raped her,” Limeuh, who was volunteering with the Sudanese Red Crescent, said the woman told him. “She asked him if he had a condom and he said ‘why would I need a condom?’”

Among a “high number” of allegations, particularly disturbing reports have emerged of people being forced to rape relatives or have sex in exchange for basic supplies, the U.N. Office of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict said in a statement on Thursday.

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End of the peak season that never was

Posted on by Eyasu Berhe

“Even though there has been a considerable increase in the number of visitors after we reopened tourist sites with the necessary precaution, the trend did not linger as the fighting in Tigray broke out shortly after. With international media outlets reporting the war in Ethiopia and embassies issuing travel alert, bookings by tourists plummeted since the beginning of the fighting,” said Sileshi Girma, Director-General of Tourism Ethiopia – a federal government body tasked to market Ethiopia’s tourist attraction sites and heritages.

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Martin Plaut: Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 63

Posted on by Sami Mulaw

“Ethiopia’s government appears to be wielding hunger as a weapon” as the Tigray region is ”being starved into submission”, citing reports of “horrifying accounts of ethnic killings, mass rapes—and starvation.”

“For more than two months there has been essentially no access to Tigray. (..) There are 450 tonnes of supplies we’ve been trying to get in that are stuck.”

 “I am greatly concerned by serious allegations of sexual violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, including a high number of alleged rapes in the capital, Mekelle”.

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AP: UN warns of ‘serious’ rape charges in Ethiopia’s Tigray

Posted on by Eyasu Berhe

The U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict says “serious allegations of sexual violence” have emerged in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, while women and girls face shortages of rape kits and HIV drugs amid restrictions on humanitarian access.

New arrivals in camps for refugees and internally displaced people are reporting sexual violence, and “there are increasing reports of sexual violence against women and girls” inside the camps, Patten’s statement said.

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UN: Urges all parties to prohibit the use of sexual violence and cease hostilities in the Tigray

Posted on by Eyasu Berhe

United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten: “I am greatly concerned by serious allegations of sexual violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, including a high number of alleged rapes in the capital, Mekelle. There are also disturbing reports of individuals allegedly forced to rape members of their own family, under threats of imminent violence. Some women have also reportedly been forced by military elements to have sex in exchange for basic commodities, while medical centres have indicated an increase in the demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which is often an indicator of sexual violence in conflict. In addition, there are increasing reports of sexual violence against women and girls in a number of refugee camps.”

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Breakingviews – Ethiopia piles war risk on shaky economy

Posted on by Eyasu Berhe

“Another risk is the reaction from donors such as the World Bank. Aid made up nearly a quarter of government revenue last year, according to South African consultancy NKC. If funding is withdrawn because of the conflict, the budget deficit would balloon to over 30% of GDP, even before taking into account any extra military spending.”

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Facing War, Virus and Locusts, Ethiopia’s Once-Golden Economy Loses Its Luster

Posted on by Eyasu Berhe

For the past decade Ethiopia has boasted of one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, welcoming billions of dollars in foreign direct investment from the U.S. and China and lifting more than 20 million people out of poverty.

Now, a monthlong civil war, coronavirus lockdowns and historic locust infestations have left the once-golden economy stumbling, as it grapples with one of Africa’s most perilous debt loads, soaring inflation and the risk of a protracted insurgency.

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Ethiopia’s Economy in 2021

Posted on by Eyasu Berhe

“Investment, be it local or foreign, is unthinkable in 2021 as investor confidence has been eroded due to political uncertainty, a situation which may lead to an increase in unemployment rate and disruption of local supply chains that may result in a high inflationary pressure. So if the country becomes stable, it will be a year of a slight recovery from the crisis that we faced so far, but the chance of that happening is also very low as there is no end in sight for the political crisis,”

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