Tigray, 14 November, 2020 / 11:21 pm (ACI Africa).
The leadership of a Catholic refugee agency with operations in 56 countries worldwide is appealing for humanitarian access to Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which is experiencing violent conflict between the Federal government forces and the paramilitary in the Northern region of the Horn of Africa country.
“As a humanitarian organization, our appeal is to see that there is a humanitarian corridor to support in the provision of basic and essential supplies to people affected,” the Regional Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Eastern Africa, Andre Atsu told ACI Africa in a Thursday, November 13 interview.
Mr. Atsu added, “Owing to the closure of banks and shops as well as the access route to the town of Shire, there is great high risk that if nothing is done and the fighting continues, the humanitarian workers/refugees/community members will run out of food and other essential supplies soon.”
In a November 11 update, the leadership of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) decried the inability of humanitarian organizations to access the region due to blocked roads noting, “There are already shortages of basic commodities, impacting the most vulnerable first.”
The landlocked Horn of Africa nation has been experiencing clashes since November 4 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed-led government ordered a military offensive against the authorities in the Tigray region, which borders Eritrea.
