Il tigray, the rebel region north of theEthiopia which has been at war with the central power for over a year, has become "a hell” for those who still live there. The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an interview with Al Jazeera, Tedros Ghebreyesus, according to which “what is happening in the region is an insult to our humanity. It is terrifying and unimaginable - he added - that in the XNUMXst century there is a government that has been denying its citizens food and medicines and what they need to survive for over a year".
According to the United Nations, Tigray is suffering a government blockade central Addis Ababa, a vice that prevents anyone, including humanitarian organizations and the WHO itself, from bringing relief to a population reduced "to despair - continues Ghebreyesus - There are no medicines there are no doctors, no electricity, no telephones. No newspaper."
On the other hand, they are there every day drone airstrikes and since July Tigray is the only region of Ethiopia where humanitarian aid does not arrive. "Conflict cannot be an excuse - underlines the WHO number one again - Humanitarian paths have always been kept open in every war", as happened in Syria and Yemen. The truth is that President Abyi is using every means to defeat the Tigrinya leaders who have been standing up to him for over a year to recover their autonomy.
The invasion of Tigray, described as a "police operation" by Abyi, began in November 2020 to punish the leaders of the region who had held local elections despite the central state having decided to postpone them due to the pandemic.
After the start of operations, the Tigrinya soldiers - who are competent and used to fighting - had reversed the situation, leaving their borders and getting dangerously close to the capital. They had succeeded also thanks to the help of the Amhara, another people who are asking the president for greater autonomy. Then it came the stalemate in which the whole country is still stuck and which has caused humanitarian hell in Tigray.
A situation that has opened a chasm of doubts and bitterness among those who had applauded in 2018 the decision to award Abyi with the Nobel Peace Prize, after he had ended the war with neighboring Eritrea as his first act as president. In light of what has happened since then, we can't help but think how lightly that award was granted. It would be appropriate to go back to that decision and revoke Abyi's recognition: it's late, but not that late.
FIRSTonline received a text by some humanitarian workers who have seen the hell of Tigray with their own eyes and confirm what has been reported by the WHO. We publish their testimony in its entirety.
This is the reality of which we are eyewitnesses and which we cannot talk about. Forced to silence, not out of fear, but in order not to be expelled or imprisoned and thus leave the population without any reference.
We must let women and children die and recoverable patients for lack of basic medicines, antibiotics, insulin and anesthetic for simple interventions. Oxygen.
We have to choose who to let live and who to let die, when everyone could be saved.
And there is a lack of food and clean water, fuel and combustibles of any kind. It is a genocide carried out in indifference and silence, in political games, in diplomatic skirmishes.
While every day we suffer bombings and dozens and hundreds of civilians die. Covid is a killer, but less cruel than hunger, thirst, fear.
We must hope that in the future the international community, when the extermination of the 6 million Tigrayans is completed, will not schedule hypocritical "memory" celebrations, as happens every year for the Jews killed by the Nazis.
There is no difference between Hitler, Aby Ahmed or Isahias Afeworki: they are all murderers guilty of crimes against humanity. Hitler had the decency to commit suicide. We have awarded Aby the "Nobel for peace". And we don't have the decency to publicly withdraw it from him. This makes us all as conniving and guilty as him/them.
And please stop calling us humanitarian workers "heroes" because we decided to stay and share this drama.
Whoever finds a man overboard has a duty to rescue him. Same for us.
Being here helps us stay human.
