Ethiopia Suspends Work of Two Aid Groups Active in Tigray
Voice of America
04 Aug 2021, 09:05 GMT+10
NAIROBI - Two international aid groups said Tuesday that the Ethiopian government had suspended part or all of their operations, while the United Nations humanitarian chief warned Ethiopian authorities that blanket accusations against aid workers in the country s embattled Tigray region and elsewhere are dangerous and must stop. The United Nations new Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths addresses a news conference on the humanitarian crisis in Tigray after visiting the region, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aug. 3, 2021.
Martin Griffiths spoke to reporters amid a new push to get more badly needed food and other supplies into Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people face famine conditions and Ethiopia s government has been accused of blocking assistance. He acknowledged that his own flights into and out of Tigray had difficulties with searches and d
Ethiopia suspends work of 2 aid groups active in Tigray
CARA ANNA, Associated Press
FacebookTwitterEmail
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) Two international aid groups said Tuesday that the Ethiopian government had suspended part or all of their operations, while the United Nations humanitarian chief warned Ethiopian authorities that blanket accusations against aid workers in the country’s embattled Tigray region and elsewhere are “dangerous” and must stop.
Martin Griffiths spoke to reporters amid a new push to get more badly needed food and other supplies into Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people face famine conditions and Ethiopia’s government has been accused of blocking assistance. He acknowledged that his own flights into and out of Tigray had “difficulties” with searches and delays.
Dozens of bodies found in river between Ethiopia’s Tigray and Sudan
Sun Online Desk
4th August, 2021 10:21:39 AM
At least 30 corpses have washed up on the Sudanese banks of a river that abuts Ethiopia s northern region of Tigray, according to two Ethiopian refugees and four Sudanese witnesses who told media on Monday they had retrieved the bodies.
The bodies were found in the Setit River, known in Ethiopia as the Tekeze, which is the current de facto borderline between territory controlled by Tigrayan forces and those controlled by Amhara forces allied with Ethiopia s federal government.
At a different point the river also separates Sudan from Ethiopia.
UN condemns claims of bias against aid workers in Tigray
Wednesday August 04 2021
Ethiopian refugees who fled the war in Tigray. A senior UN official on August 3, 2021 condemned as dangerous accusations by Ethiopian government officials that aid workers were biased in favour of rebel forces in Tigray. PHOTO | AFP
Summary
In mid-July a senior government official, Redwan Hussein, accused some aid groups of arming the other side , meaning the TPLF, but gave no details.
Aid workers have complained that, even though Abiy declared a humanitarian ceasefire in late June, aid access in Tigray is as bad as ever, hobbled by insecurity and bureaucratic hurdles.
The United Nations’ new humanitarian chief has denounced “dangerous” accusations by Ethiopian government officials that aid workers were biased in favour of rebels in Tigray, where a brutal conflict between federal troops and forces loyal to the northern region’s rulers erupted nine months ago.
Speaking to reporters at the end of a six-day visit to Ethiopia, Martin Griffiths also called for access to allow desperately needed aid into the mountainous region where the UN says hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from famine.
“Blanket accusations of humanitarian aid workers need to stop,” he said.
“They are unfair, they are unconstructive, they need to be backed up by evidence if there is any and, frankly, it’s dangerous.”