Tigary: Humanitarian Crisis!

CAUTION! NEWS: Humanitarian crisis present in the state of Tigray, Ethiopian Region! Culture and peoples in threat of geneocide! Since November 4th of 2020, locals have and are still being starved, attacked, raped, and/or murdered by Ethiopian forces, Eritrean forces, and armed Amhara militias, as per orders of their governments. Countless horrific war crimes have been committed beneath the public's eye for over a year now, and not much has been done to stop it.

Tigray is located in the Northernmost region of Ethiopia with a population, prior to the massacre, of over seven million people. On November 4th, 2020, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed declared civil war, resulting in potential genocide in the state of Tigray, and collaborating with the President of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki. Since this declaration, Ahmed’s administration has limited or completely blocked all access to basic human necessities such as: electricity/internet, first-aid/healthcare, food, and water for millions upon millions of Tigrayan civilians. Ethiopian troops, Eritrean troops and Amhara militias have been committing war crimes on an ongoing basis such as: actions towards ethnic cleansing, massacring civilians, weaponizing of man-made famine, and weaponizing of sexual and gender based violence, specifically against women and girls (as young as eight years old).

LAST KNOWN STATISTICS: 1) 70,000+ civilians killed 2) 900,000 people living in famine conditions 3) 6.8+ million people currently in dire need of emergency food 4) 70,000+ Tigrayan refugees, at last count, in Sudan 5) 2.2+ million internationally displaced peoples 6) 75% of state and private universities looted and damaged beyond repair 7) 80% of health facilities looted, vandalized, or destroyed 8) 99% of ambulances stolen, taken to Eritrea or destroyed.

“War is the epitome of hell,” is a quote given by Abiy Ahmed during his acceptance speech for his Nobel peace prize in 2019. After seeing his actions in 2020, it is clear now that this was just a front for the media disguising his true warmongering intentions. Tigray is not the first to fall victim to Abiy in the shadows. He started with the Somali region in August of 2018 resulting in multiple lives lost, disrupted and traumatized. Then moved on to the Amhara region in June 2019, where political leaders were eliminated due to an opposition in Ahmed’s political ideologies, resulting in a dramatic shootout. Then attention was moved to the Oromia region, cutting them off from telecommunication, launching several airstrikes, and calling for assassinations, as a response to their anti-Abiy Oromo Liberation Army. Gedio, Gurage, Benshangul Gumuz, Kaffa, Qemant, Agew, are Ethiopian ethnic groups that have also been displaced due to international violence which took place across the country since Ahmed’s ministry began. News and updates continue to come out of the country, exhibiting Abiy Ahmed and the ongoing threat of violence, through the military, against Ethiopian ethnic groups.

Ethopian and Eritrean troops are actively using rape and sexual assualt as a tool of war against the female Tigrayan population. Countless reports of rapes, gang rapes, sexual assaults after being kidnapped and imprisoned, and similar crimes, have emerged on an ongoing basis, some of the victims being girls as young as eight years old. Multiple reports have stated that these women and girls are being attacked while their loved ones are forced to watch. Many have been killed afterwards.

“They tried to rape me and I was thrown to the ground. Then, one of the soldiers fired bullets to scare me, but they hit my hand and then fired another bullet that went through my arm,” is one account from eighteen year old Mona Lisa Abraha, recounting the horrific tale of the night her village of Tembien, Tigray was attacked.

Survivor, Mehrawit, twenty seven years old, shares her account with Los Angeles Times stating that she was separated from her sister and locked in a room with only a thin, dirty mattress on the floor. For an ongoing two week period, she said, the Eritrean soldiers gang raped her repeatedly, fracturing her spine and pelvis, which ultimately left her crumpled on the floor. She recounted a day when there were up to fifteen soldiers in the room taking turns sexually assaulting her over the course of over eight hours.

“Some girls and I managed to leave the village, but on the road we were caught by the Eritrean soldiers. More than ten soldiers took turns raping us,” comes a quote from Saba, a displaced woman from Mia Kadra Al Jazeera, and survivor.

“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,” comes a quote from Pramila Patten, the UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict.

Although descriptions of the above events makes one want to cry in sympathy, a tiny ray of hope presents itself in local activists trying to make a difference. The clothing brand, shopkonjo.com/ is a philanthropic female powered brand dedicated to sparking advocacy and awareness. This female powered brand has specifically launched their own clothing and accessory line, with original designs, inspired and dedicated to the women and peoples of Tigray. 100% of all proceeds from all the clothing in this line are donated to provide medical kits for victims in Tigray. This brand has many beautiful designs to choose from, featured on comfortable t-shirts, crewnecks, baseball caps, phone cases, etc. Please show your support for Tigray in any means possible!

For further information on the humanitarian crisis in the state of Tigray visit omnatigray.org/ and/or standwithtigray.com. For further updates follow these accounts on your instagram: @peaceintigray, @tigrayyouthnetwork, and @shopkonjo.

Events like this should NOT happen. Awareness that they DID happen, and ARE happening, is the first step toward stopping, and preventing them in the future.