Statement on the Increasingly Dire Humanitarian Situation Since March 24, 2022, the Government of Tigray has been complying with a temporary cessation of hostilities agreement with the objective of facilitating the provision of sufficient, timely and sustained humanitarian aid to the people of Tigray. The Government of Tigray had made it clear at the time that it would do everything in its power to help create propitious conditions in which our people would receive internationally-provided humanitarian assistance commensurate with the vast scale of humanitarian needs on the ground, and within a reasonable timeframe.

Be that as it may, over the past two weeks, only 26 truckloads of supplies have arrived in Tigray. This fact provides incontrovertible evidence that the cessation of hostilities agreement is being used to intensify the brutal blockade of Tigray. Even so, Ethiopian authorities continue to churn out a dizzying drumbeat of false statements, claiming that increased humanitarian aid is flowing into Tigray. In addition, some members of the international community, in clear disregard of their legal, moral and professional duties, are echoing the Abiy regime’s fictitious narratives, averring that the continual delivery of humanitarian aid into Tigray should be encouraged. These members of the international community, by extoling the virtues of a nonexistent change, are effectively complicit in the continuation of the vicious blockade of Tigray, and the consequent deployment of starvation and disease as tools of war.

The Government of Tigray strongly demands an end to such irresponsible statements. Aside from being a cruel joke at the expense of the victims of a staggering man-made humanitarian calamity, making such unconscionably false claims is also tantamount to participating in the commission of international crime. Further, the delivery of humanitarian aid without any obstruction should be decoupled from political issues. The Government of Tigray would also like to make it clear that if the cessation of hostilities agreement reached by the two sides that has now morphed into a unilateral initiative cannot give rise to the flow of unobstructed aid into Tigray, it has outlived its usefulness and is, ipso facto, devoid of any meaning.

Accordingly, the Government of Tigray demands an end to misleading and bogus claims vis-à-vis humanitarian aid that has not been delivered. The Government of Tigray also calls upon the international community to exert adequate pressure on the regime with a view to putting an end to word games; lifting the brutal blockade of Tigray; and resuming discontinued vital social services. Finally, the Government of Tigray reiterates its commitment to doing everything in its power to facilitate the delivery of unfettered humanitarian aid into Tigray. Tigray will prevail!

Tigray External Affairs Office