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UN: More than 350,000 people in the Tigray region are on the verge of starvation

According to a study published by agencies and aid organizations operating in the region, the food situation in northwestern Ethiopia is defined as "catastrophic", and hundreds of thousands are in a "severe crisis".

1.7 million were displaced from their homes during the seven months of fighting between government forces and rebels.

"Death is knocking on our door," residents say

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• Tigray

• Ethiopia

• hunger

News agencies

Saturday, June 12, 2021, 10:15 p.m.

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More than 350,000 people in the northern Ethiopian province of Tigray are starving, according to a study published by five UN agencies and aid agencies operating in the country. Northern Ethiopia, adding that the situation is expected to deteriorate further,

with hundreds of thousands of people living under a "severe crisis" in the war-torn area and some 1.7 million people displaced. The Rebels, which began in November 2020.

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The situation in the area is expected to deteriorate.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Luokuk (Photo: AP)

It is estimated that the food situation in the Tigray region has reached a "catastrophic" level, leading to starvation and death of people scattered in small groups over large areas.

The United Nations World Food Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations International Fund for Emergency Response (UNICEF) have called for urgent action to address the crisis.

The study was not approved by the Ethiopian government, which insists that humanitarian aid has been expanded with the restoration of order across the region by it.

"Death is knocking on our door," said residents of Kafta Humra, a province based in western Tigray, and say they are on the verge of starvation.

"We have nothing to eat," said a man who lives there, explaining that his crops and farm animals were looted during the seven months of fighting.

1.7 million were displaced from their homes.

A boy displaced from his home in Sudan, January (Photo: GettyImages)

Military militia forces prevented them from receiving assistance from the government they were fighting against. "We ate remnants of crops we managed to hide, but now we have nothing," said a farmer in his 40s. "No one gave us help. Almost everyone is on the verge of death - our eyes are affected by hunger, the situation is dangerous. Death is knocking on our door. Hunger can be seen on the face of each of us."

Residents said they saw vehicles carrying aid passing them, and no one bothered to find out about their plight.

"This severe crisis is due to the ongoing effects of conflict, including population evacuations, movement restrictions, limited humanitarian access, loss of agricultural and livelihood assets and markets that are not functioning or non-existent," the study added. It was also reported that as of May, 5.5 million people had faced high levels of food insecurity in the area, and the situation may worsen by September.

5.5 million people have faced food insecurity.

A woman displaced from Tigray (Photo: GettyImages)

The report did not officially announce a hunger strike in Tigray.

This is because the word hunger is so strong and convincing and has a specific definition that international governments and organizations have agreed to use it only when certain stringent criteria are met, when a large and distinct population group experiences conditions of hunger and death.

UN criteria hunger are at least 20% of households in the region are facing extreme food shortages limited coping capacity, more than 30% suffer acute malnutrition and mortality rate exceeds two persons per day, per ten thousand persons.

Currently, Tigray Region - among others Because of insecurity and accessibility problems for the most needy, there is still no data to support the definition of hunger.

Survivors and refugees near a UNICEF tent.

December 2020 (Photo: GettyImages)

The cause of the fighting in Tigray

The conflict in Tigray began in November, after months of political tension.

The Tigray leadership has led the Ethiopian government for about 30 years, creating a system of government based on ethnic division between different regions of the country.

Prime Minister Avi Ahmad Ali, who came to power in 2018, ousted the defiant leaders and at the same time signed a peace agreement with Eritrea, which won him the Nobel Peace Prize a year later.

After postponing the elections, which were supposed to take place last year, the Tigray leadership saw his government as illegitimate and held its own elections.

In response, my father launched an offensive in the province, claiming that Tigray rebel forces had attacked an Ethiopian army base.

Map of the fighting in Ethiopia (Photo: official website, -)

When is hunger declared?

My father declared that the conflict ended in late November, but the fighting continued - thousands were killed, tens of thousands of refugees sought refuge in neighboring Sudan and all sides were accused of numerous human rights violations.

The Tigray area has a bloody history - in 1984, Tigray and the nearby province of Volo were the focus of a famine caused by a deadly combination of drought and war, which led to 600,000 per million dead.

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