The UN is continuing its discussions with the Ethiopian government to provide humanitarian aid to the Tigray region but without result, its spokesperson said on Monday, December 14, while the Security Council held its second meeting on this issue in a month and half.
“Our discussions with the government on the implementation of the agreements
(concluded with the UN)
are continuing.
It is a little frustrating to say that we have not been able to enter
(in Tigray)
, to reach the people whom we know need help, ”
said Stéphane Dujarric during his point. daily press.
"The days lost by the absence of an agreement or the absence of a green light for us, amount to a day of more suffering for those who need help,"
he added.
Read also: Ethiopia: the army surrounds the capital of Tigray
Since the outbreak on November 4 of an Ethiopian military operation in Tigray, the UN has concluded two agreements for humanitarian access to the region and the organization of joint assessment missions with the Ethiopian authorities, without concrete results until present.
At the request of the United States and European members of the Security Council (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Estonia), the Security Council held an informal closed-door videoconference on Monday morning on the humanitarian situation in Tigray.
Little information leaked from this session which was not followed by any joint statement, as had already been the case on November 24 during the first meeting of the Council.
According to diplomats, China and African members of the Council (South Africa, Niger and Tunisia) opposed the publication of a statement requested by Germany, Estonia and the Dominican Republic.
Because of
"the sensitivity of the subject"
, their position
"is that it is better to limit the involvement of the Council and avoid sending signals that could have negative effects on the ground"
, told AFP a diplomat on condition of anonymity.
Read also: Ethiopia lifts the veil on the massacre, in Mai Kadra, of 600 civilians in a few hours
In a statement released after the meeting, the German ambassador to the UN, Christoph Heusgen, protested against the lack of authorization to enter Tigray.
"We need full, safe and unhindered access for aid workers,"
he said, indicating that he had
"information that the refugee camps will run out of food by the end of this week ”
.
Germany also has information
"according to which refugees are prevented from fleeing to Sudan
(...)
, which also constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law"
, added the German diplomat, whose country is the most important donor. important for humanitarian aid in Ethiopia and the second most important for Sudan.
"According to some reports, Eritrean soldiers seem to control certain movements of refugees in the Eritrean border region"
and
"all this must stop"
, insisted Christoph Heusgen.
According to the UN, the conflict in Tigray has caused the displacement in this region of at least 63,000 people and the flight to neighboring Sudan of more than 50,000 others.
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