Horn of Africa

Photo: The World Food Programme (WFP) resumed its operations in the Tigray region of Ethiopia after fighting had halted its emergency response. WFP/Rein Skullerud

European Union Sued for Not Responding to Eritrea’s Rights Violations

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) — The Foundation Human Rights for Eritreans, a Netherlands based organization, has decided to sue the European Union and international bodies for failing to respond to human rights abuses by the Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki and his associates.

At the press conference on May 10, the Foundation’s lawyer, Emiel Jurjens from Kennedy van der Laan made the announcement of legal action by the Foundation on the Responsibility of Eritrea for Grave Human Rights Violations, the details of which can be found here.

: Robert Johnson; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 13 May 2022

Photo: Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (Ethiopia) © Ko Hon Chiu Vincent

Historic City of Stone-Hewn Churches Re-Opens to Pilgrims Barred by War

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A World Heritage Site and Ethiopia’s holy city of Lalibela is welcoming pilgrims once again. Throngs of Ethiopians recently flooded the streets of the town caught up in the fighting between the government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christians celebrate the birth of Christ on January 7.

: Global Information Network; ARTS & CULTURE; 11 January 2022

Photo: An armoured vehicle is left abandoned on a road in Tigray, Ethiopia, on July 20, 2021. © UNICEF/Christine Nesbitt

UN Chief Urges End to Conflict in Ethiopia

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) — The UN Secretary-General António Guterres is deeply concerned about the impact the conflict continues to have on civilians in Ethiopia. He said he was deeply saddened by reports that more than 50 civilians were killed and injured in an airstrike in northern Ethiopia, on January 7.

: Caroline Mwanga; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 10 January 2022

One Lone Voice for Peace at Govt. Pro-War Rally in Addis

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — At a large pro-war rally held recently in Meskel Square in the heart of the capital city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, surrounded by thousands of his supporters, made clear that the battle against Tigrayan rebel fighters would continue unabated, despite mounting fatalities and famine.

Residents of the capital were told to arm themselves to repel the rebel forces if they managed to reach the city. To some analysts, this suggested that Abiy’s own Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) was not up to the challenge of defending the capital.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 08 November 2021

Photo: Food being unloaded from a truck at a WFP distribution site in Zelazle in the north of Tigray. © WFP/Claire Nevill

UN Concerned for the Safety of Staff Working on the Ground in Tigray

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — UN has "serious concerns" for the safety of staff working on the ground in Ethiopia's Tigray region. A UN humanitarian aid flight destined for the capital of the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, was forced to return to Addis Ababa due to airstrikes on October 22, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator said in a statement.

: Radwan Jakeem; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 24 October 2021

Photo: The UNICEF Nutrition Specialist and Emergency Response Team screen for malnutrition in Adikeh in Wajirat in Southern Tigray in Ethiopia. © UNICEF/Christine Nesbitt

UN Implicitly Warns Member States Against Expelling Officials for Political Reasons

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — Ethiopia’s decision last week to expel seven UN officials, including senior humanitarian officials from the politically troubled African nation, generated an implicit warning to all 193 member states: do not kick out any UN officials for political reasons or declare them “persona non grata”.

: Thalif Deen; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 04 October 2021

Photo: Migrants prepare to depart from Aden on a Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) flight last week. Credit: Majed Mohammed/IOM Yemen

23,000 Refugees Returned to Libya, Mass Surveillance of Migrants in Europe, Tigray Facing Famine

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) — The Elders address the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Tigray; refugees in Ethiopia approved for resettlement reportedly refused departure; UN urges opening of Tigray for aid; 29 Tigrayan bodies found between Sudan and Ethiopia; 5,000 Ethiopian migrants blocked in Yemen; Ethiopia is facing competing alliances; over 23,000 refugees returned to Libya this year, reports the Belgium-based Europe External Programme with Africa in its latest report on the Horn of Africa situation.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 12 September 2021

Sacred Rock-Hewn Churches Threatened in Ethiopian Civil War

By Lisa Vives

NEW YORK (IDN) — Lalibela, a holy site for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and home to 13th century rock-hewn churches—a world heritage site—has been caught between the warring forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the central government in Addis Ababa, according to reports from the region.

In a statement issued by the UN agency UNESCO, Lalibela’s historic role as a place of pilgrimage, devotion and peace was underscored. “It should not be a place for instigating violence and conflict,” their statement read.

: UN INSIDER; 09 August 2021

Photo: One of the numerous mass graves of civilian victims in Tigray, massacred by ENDF and allied forces. VOA | Public domain.

A Reflection on Tigray’s Maneuver Action Plan that Routed Abiy’s Allied Forces

Viewpoint by Asayehgn Desta*

CALIFORNIA (IDN) — The constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, promulgated in 1995, was supposed to resolve ethnic conflict and enhance self- and shared-rule. But, contrary to expectations, Ethiopia became heavily embroiled in inter-ethnic skirmishes starting in 2018.

Demand for self-rule and ethnic fighting has been brewing in a number of Ethiopia’s regional states.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 28 July 2021

Photo: Some 220 former refugee families from Somalia are now farming in the US state of Maine. UN News/Daniel Dickinson

The Somali Refugees Planting a New Life in The United States

By Muhidin Libah, UN News Feature

This feature story told in first person is republished from UN News. Read the original article.

NEW YORK (IDN) — After spending years living in UN-supported camps in Kenya, some 220 former refugees from Somalia now work as farmers in the US state of Maine, growing crops ranging from beets to broccolini.

Thousands of Somalis who fled persecution and civil war in the Horn of Africa country have benefitted from resettlement programmes in third countries like the US.