Situation in Tigray (per 06 September)
- There have been multiple reports, including from the Sudanese news media SudanAkhbar, that Ethiopian soldiers have surrendered to Sudanese forces. According to the reports, the surrenders happened following fighting with Tigrayan fighters on the border with Sudan.
- According to Assena TV, a UK-based Eritrean opposition news outlet, around 200 Eritrean soldiers including some commanders were captured by the TDF.
- The Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) sent an open appeal to the UN Security Council to learn from past mistakes and urged it to act swiftly to end the war and humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
- GSTS said it is disheartened that the UNSC has failed to take up lessons learned from historical tragedies such as seen in Rwanda (1994), and Sri Lanka (2009).
- UNFPA plans on distributing 160.000 “dignity kits” to women in need in Northern Ethiopia this year. Dignity kits are meant to help women with menstrual and reproductive health. It has so far distributed 78.000 already.
- The city of Adigrat in Northern Tigray was reportedly shelled on Friday and Saturday. The shelling is reported to have stopped after that, possibly due to counterattacks.
Situation in Ethiopia (per 06 September)
- Ethiopia Insight published the account of an individual that worked for the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission who investigated the November 2020 Aksum massacre in Tigray.
- He claims he was the first person to investigate the massacre on the ground in February 2021, and that several false media claims put his life in danger. This included an orchestrated attack by the Ethiopian government who didn’t want the EHRC report published.
- He claims that the first version of the EHRC report he submitted was heavily edited; he indicated the number of victims to be in the “hundreds”. This was later changed to “more than a hundred”. He also said that he never identified the “trigger” of the massacre, although the EHRC report claims that it was a retaliation for an earlier attack on Eritrean troops.
- In an Op-Ed for the Addis Standard, Ethiopian law professor Milkiyas Bulcha says that the National Dialogue Proclamation (NDP) is a “camouflage for a monologue” by the Ethiopian government.
- He adds that the NDP is also unconstitutional, and lacks public trust as the opposition is not represented. He says the NDP is exacerbating the problem it claims it wants to solve.
- A situational analysis by iMMAP of internally displaced people in drought-affected regions of Ethiopia shows drought is affecting 8 million people in the southern and south-eastern parts of the country which have been most heavily impacted.
- Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, with 162,610 people in Oromia, 413,004 in the Somali region and 6,338 in Afar registered thus far. This displacement largely takes place within the affected regions, and is concentrated around 355 IDP camps.
- Food insecurity has increased significantly, with WFP reporting in May 2022 that 400.000 pastoralists lost their livelihood.
Regional Situation (per 06 September)
- UNICEF said that 730 children have died in nutrition centres between January and July as a result of the food shortage in Somalia.
- A new UN South Sudan Mission (UNMISS) report says that between February and May 2022, 173 people were killed in clashes. It also reports that 37 women and children were abducted, with many of them being subjected to sexual violence.
- The UNMISS report mentions one incident where two young girls, 8 year and 9 years old, were gang raped to death.
- The World Food Programme has published a report on the impact of the Ukraine crisis on food availability in Eastern Africa.
- Food prices have increased nearly 50%, and fuel prices increased 62%. In Somalia, fuel prices went up 92%.
- 300.000 people have been affected by flash floods in Sudan. Sudanese officials say that 112 people have been killed since seasonal rains started in May. Twelve people were killed in the last week.
- The US Ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, met with representatives of FFC-CC and other pro-democracy organisations in Sudan.
- Godfrey also met with the Sudanese Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said that he would work to “narrow the gaps between the Sudanese stakeholders involved in the political process with the view to forming a civilian Government.”
Links of interest
ጸጸር ኣዘዝቲ ዝርከቡዎም 200 ወተሃደራት ጭፍራ ኢሳይያስ ብጅግና ሰራዊት ትግራይ ተማሪኾም: ATV Asena
Twitter: An open appeal by GSTS to the UNSC
Situational Analysis of Internally Displaced People in drought-affected regions of Ethiopia
U.S Godfrey vows to continue efforts to restore civilian transition in Sudan: Sudan Tribune
Sudan: Weekly Floods Round-up, No. 05 (5 September 2022)
Implications of the Conflict in Ukraine on Food Access and Availability in the East Africa Region
Twitter: Ethiopian soldier surrender to Sudan
I exposed the Axum massacre, and faced the consequences
More than 78,000 displaced women and girls assisted with UNFPA Dignity Kits across northern Ethiopia
U.S.’s Godfrey vows to continue efforts to restore civilian transition in Sudan
Commentary: Ethiopian National Dialogue Proclamation: A camouflage for monologue?
More Than 700 Children Have Died in Somalia Nutrition Centres, UN Says
UN Report Says 173 Civilians Killed In Four Months In Southern Unity State Amid Continued Fighting
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