Ethiopia announces expulsion of seven UN officials

Published on : 09/30/2021 – 5:20 pm

Humanitarian workers urged to leave Ethiopia. The government announced Thursday, September 30, that seven heads of UN agencies would be expelled within 72 hours for “interference”.

“The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry, in letters published today, (…) declared persona non grata seven people working for various international NGOs in Ethiopia, for interference in the internal affairs of the country,” he said. he announced on Facebook, citing the names of seven heads of UN agencies.

“Under the letters to each of the seven individuals listed below, all must leave Ethiopia within the next 72 hours,” the ministry added, citing the names of seven heads of UN agencies, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).

The war has been raging for more than ten months in Tigray, where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent the army to overthrow the regional authorities from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which he accuses of having orchestrated attacks on federal military camps.

See also: In Ethiopia, the war in Tigray spreads to Amhara

Risk of famine

The fighting disrupted harvests in this northern region which was already food insecure. Some combatants made the situation even worse by blocking and looting food aid.

The UN has been warning for more than three months that some 400,000 people across Tigray have “crossed the threshold of famine”.

The TPLF recaptured most of Tigray at the end of June. Most of the government forces withdrew by then, and Abiy Ahmed’s office announced a humanitarian ceasefire.

But very little aid has arrived in this region subject to “a de facto blockade”, estimated in early September the UN interim humanitarian coordinator for Ethiopia, Grant Leaity, who is among those expelled.

According to the United States, less than 10% of the humanitarian assistance needed could be delivered in August. Addis Ababa and the TPLF accuse each other of obstructing the delivery of aid and starving the population. Last week, the UN claimed that hundreds of humanitarian aid trucks “did not return” from Tigray.

Ethiopia is holding parliamentary elections in three regions on Thursday after several postponements, the final stage of the ballot before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed forms a new government next week.

With AFP