Tigrayan — World News, Travel and Social Action

The East African country has recently been overrun by natural disasters, COVID-19 and internal violence.

A refugee camp in Ethiopia. Oberhaus. CC2.0

Rising tensions in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region pose a severe threat for the East African country and for stability across the Horn of Africa. Most urgently, the fighting places millions of people in danger and in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Map of Ethiopia’s regions, with Tigray in the far north. Jfblanc. CC4.0

An Overview of the Conflict in Tigray

Ethiopia, the largest and most populous country in the Horn of Africa region, is home to many different religions, languages and ethnic groups. The recent fighting is taking place in Tigray, Ethiopia’s northernmost region along the border with Eritrea. The conflict is between Ethiopia’s central government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The TPLF came to power in 1991 and established a coalition where Ethiopia was divided into 10 distinct regions that each had political autonomy, allowing the TPLF to become a key player in Ethiopian politics. The TPLF remained in power for 27 years until rising concerns of political corruption and human rights abuses resulted in nationwide protests. As a result, Abiy Ahmed was elected the prime minister of Ethiopia in 2018 and began to reduce the TPLF’s power. While Ahmed advocates for a strong federal government that unites all Ethiopians regardless of ethnicity, the TPLF wants more political autonomy and sees Ahmed’s central government as a hindrance to the TPLF’s political agenda.

The current dispute began when the TPLF wanted to hold a regional election in September. Prime Minister Ahmed denied the request, since all national elections in Ethiopia were canceled due to COVID-19. Fighting began on Nov. 4 when Tigrayan forces were accused of attacking a military base belonging to Ahmed’s government. The violence in the region continues to escalate.

Abiy Ahmed is widely recognized for brokering peace and ending a military conflict with neighboring Eritrea, an effort that resulted in Ahmed receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. However the current escalating violence is causing the international community to raise its eyebrows. According to Kjetil Tronvoll, a scholar of Ethiopian politics at Bjorknes University College in Norway, “The Nobel Peace Prize has until recently shielded Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from international scrutiny and criticism. However, the warfare on Tigray has opened the eyes of many diplomats to the way political power is wielded in Ethiopia.”

Rwandan President Paul Kagame (left) and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (right). Kagame. CC2.0

What is Happening Now?

On Nov. 28, the Ethiopian army gained control of the Tigrayan regional capital of Mekelle, with Prime Minister Ahmed declaring victory shortly thereafter. However, Tigrayan forces have yet to surrender. Since the conflict began, telephone, internet and road access to the Tigray region has been suspended, making it difficult to know what is happening on the ground. Shortly after Ahmed declared victory, rockets were fired at the Eritrean capital of Asmara, where according to the U.S. embassy, “Six explosions occurred in the city at about 10:13 p.m.” The Ethiopian government has declared a six-month-long state of emergency in the Tigray region. There is concern that the conflict could exacerbate ethnic division in other parts of Ethiopia, or even spread to neighboring countries such as Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia. With the conflict having no end in sight, it is unclear to predict whether current military efforts are enough to end the fighting.

Refugee children in Ethiopia. United Nations Photo. CC2.0

Impact on Internally Displaced People and Refugees

Before the recent fighting broke out in Tigray, the region was already home to over 200,000 refugees, the majority coming from Eritrea. The current fighting is estimated to affect over 2 million people, with larger estimates of up to 9 million. As many as 43,000 have already fled to neighboring countries, with Sudan preparing to accept as many as 200,000 refugees. Thousands of people are internally displaced in Shire, near the border with Eritrea. Aid groups are urging the Ethiopian government to allow access to roads crucial to the Tigray region. This year has been especially difficult in Ethiopia, as a devastating locust outbreak, floods and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have ravaged the country. According to the International Rescue Committee, the most important thing that can be done by forces is to adhere to international law, ensure that schools, hospitals and homes are not targets, and allow humanitarian aid to get to where it is needed.

To Get Involved:

Check out the International Rescue Committee, a global aid and development organization providing crucial humanitarian assistance to communities in Tigray, here.

Click here to access the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is working to establish a new shelter site for Tigrayan refugees in Sudan.

Megan is a Turkish-American student at Wellesley College in Massachusetts studying Biological Sciences. Passionate about environmental issues and learning about other cultures, she dreams of exploring the globe. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, singing, and composing music.

While citizens and officials alike fear a potential civil war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the country’s ethnic groups have become targets of violence. Many fear that the current struggles deepen existing ethnic divides.

Women of the Tigray region in Ethiopia. Rod Waddington. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Over the past several weeks, the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia has exploded into violence. The current conflict comes after years of mounting tensions between the elected government of the Tigray region and the federal government. The postponement of the September election sparked the most recent series of violent acts; existing ethnic tensions have now transformed into the slaughtering of local ethnic groups, forcing many to flee for safety in Sudan.

A Rising Civil War

The tensions in Ethiopia trace back along a labyrinthine history of political unrest, with the primary combatants being the proponents of the federal government and the officials in the Tigray region. Fighting escalated when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accused the Tigray region of attacking a federal military base and responded by sending an attack on the region. However, underlying issues began back in 2018 when Ahmed was first elected.

For decades, Ethiopia’s main political party was the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, which began around 1991 when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) aided the overthrow of the previously Marxist government. Up until 2018, the party had controlled both the political and economic components of the country. With Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s election, the TPLF’s power within the party it founded began to quickly disappear. Ahmed removed and attempted to convict many officials through potentially corrupt means, many of whom escaped to the Tigray region. He also attempted to combine parties that followed ethnic lines, which deepened divides among the groups.

In response to the prime minister’s recent postponement of the election, the unofficial leaders of the Tigray region made a decision no one in the country had done before: they held their own election. Tigray threatened secession, which is upheld in the nation’s constitution. The federal government, though, responded by withdrawing aid from Tigray and sending in troops.

Ethnic Targeting

Now that the violence has furthered into increasing physical confrontation, many ethnic groups in Ethiopia feel under attack. Recent killings have left ethnic Tigrayans and ethnic Amharas slaughtered in the streets. Calls for peace talks between the two groups have been rejected, and now nearly 15,000 people have fled for safety.

There are major criticisms on both sides, with calls for the TPLF’s unconditional surrender coming from the federal government. Meanwhile, the regional government of Tigray has been accused of igniting fear that is believed to have fed into the violent slaughtering of ethnic Amharas.

Officials fear that these killings could turn into an ethnic cleansing and genocide. Tigrayan locals are dealing with the bulk of the chaos; many are being taken in for questioning and are too fearful to contact family members outside of the region.

Experts warn that Ethiopia’s history of ethnic conflict will likely repeat itself as the nation spirals into political disarray. Only the potential for peace now holds the nation together as its ethnic groups continue to clash.

Ella is an undergraduate student at Vassar College pursuing a degree in Hispanic Studies. She wants to assist in the field of immigration law and hopes to utilize Spanish in her future projects. In her free time she enjoys cooking, writing poetry, and learning about cosmetics.