SNA (New York) — Continued heavy fighting following the collapse of a ceasefire between the rebel region of Tigray and the Ethiopian national government further imperils aid efforts to a people already facing what some believe to be the world’s gravest humanitarian crisis.

This week, the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia–a United Nations-backed group which had earlier delivered the first international reports regarding war crimes in Tigray–warned that further atrocities are almost certain to occur with the return of active combat.

They even suggested that the Ethiopian government was “intentionally causing great suffering” to the civilian population for the purpose of bringing the rebel region back under its control.

Tigray is a northern province of Ethiopia and home to ethnic Tigrayans, who make up more than 6% of the nation’s population. They have been politically influential in recent decades. Indeed, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s dominant political representative, was part of the national ruling coalition between 1991 and 2018.

However, the TPLF had a falling out several years ago with current Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, leading to a breakdown in relations and the Tigray region’s isolation. Armed conflict between the two sides broke out in November 2020, and has intermittently continued to this day.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced the numerous atrocities, including mass executions, torture, rape, and indiscriminate arrests.

For the last two years, Tigray and its people have been tightly blockaded by Ethiopia, depriving them of even essential supplies such food, water, and medicine. Power lines, too, have been severed, cutting the region off from electricity, telecoms, and banking services.

International aid deliveries have been delayed and sometimes entirely prevented from taking place. Only 6% of the supplies deemed necessary to alleviate the famine-like conditions have been able to reach Tigray.

The latest UN report described the government’s blockade as “starvation as a method of warfare.”

Complicating matters further, there is little international awareness of these horrific conditions–a consequence both of the region’s enforced isolation as well as the lack of interest from the global media in comparison to events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or concerns about China’s posture toward Taiwan.

Frustrated at the international disinterest in the welfare the people in this region, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, himself a Tigrayan, has spoken out on behalf of his suffering people several times this year.

“I need to be blunt and honest that the world is not treating the human race the same way,” he declared in April. “Some are more equal than others.”

Last month he became even more outspoken, declaring, “The humanitarian crisis in Tigray is worse than Ukraine… I haven’t heard in the last few months any head of state talking about the Tigray situation anywhere in the developed world. Anywhere. Why? Maybe the reason is the color of the skin of the people in Tigray.”

The WHO chief also cited his own personal connection, explaining, “I have many relatives there. I want to send them money. I cannot send money. They are starving… I cannot do that because they are completely sealed off. I can’t speak to them. I don’t know even who is dead or who is alive.”

Another senior WHO executive, Emergencies Director Michael Ryan, added that “no one seems to give a damn about what’s happening in the Horn of Africa.”

Ethiopia’s ambassador to the European Union, Hirut Zemene, fired back, stating, “The way he’s handling the matter is completely unprofessional to me. He is a United Nations figure… The role he is playing right now… is very, very much degrading his position. I would think he would think about global health—like he says ‘global health for all’—around the world, around Ethiopia, not only in one particular area.”

The immediate prospect is for the situation to get even worse, not better. With the collapse of a five-month ceasefire last month, large-scale offensives have resumed, pitting the Tigrayans against the central government in Addis Ababa, and with even the neighboring state of Eritrea throwing soldiers into the mix in pursuit of its own territorial claims in the area.

Indeed, Eritrea, previously a smaller participant in the conflict, now appears to be fully committed to its military engagements in Tigray. The country announced this week the full mobilization of its armed forces, including reservists and conscripts, to combat the TPLF. Eritrean drone strikes have been launched on Tigray’s regional capital, Mekelle, with their most recent strike reportedly killing more than ten civilians.

Researchers at Ghent University in Belgium suggest as many as 200,000 people may have already perished from starvation during this conflict. The United Nations estimates that a further 400,000 in Tigray are facing “famine-like conditions,” and 9.4 million people urgently require food aid.

An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced by the conflict, many of them reportedly denied assistance and subjected to discrimination.

For its part, Ethiopia has consistently rejected all accusations of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Following the publication of this week’s UN report, the country’s diplomats branded the investigation “politically motivated, self contradictory, and biased.”

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