Diaspora Community in Germany asks EU to reconsider draft resolution on Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, October 8, 2021 (FBC) – Members of the Ethiopian Diaspora Community in Germany asked the European Union (EU) in a letter to reconsider its contentious resolution entitled “The Humanitarian Situation in Tigray” 

They expressed disappointment on the many incorrect facts indicated in the draft resolution. 

The title of the resolution “Humanitarian Situation in Tigray” has a divisive nature for it singles out only one region of Ethiopia, Tigray while deliberately ignoring atrocities and destruction being committed in the Afar and Amhara regions of the country, the letter the community sent to the parliament said.

The Ethiopian government ceasefire from June 28, 2021, that was meant to help farmers in Tigray to continue their normal farming activities for the season and to alleviate the humanitarian situation there, has been misused by the TPLF clique. 

It used the time gap of Ethiopian’s troops leaving the area, to attack neighbouring regions like Afar and Amhara by destroying villages and infrastructures and killing innocent civilian lives as well as cattle.

The TPLF clique has chosen to continue its distraction and mass recruitment, including underage children, to wage an attack on the neighbouring regions. It had committed Atrocities in Agamsa and Chena, Amhara region by killing hundreds of civilians. The TPLF Junta also massacred hundreds of innocent civilians in Afar region. Nothing is mentioned about this fact in the draft resolution.

The chapeau of the draft resolution highly favours the TPLF clique. There are many facts that have been overlooked.

It misses the main point that the conflict was started by the TPLF clique attacking the National Defence Farce of Ethiopia on the 4 of November 2020.

The number of those compatriots that are in need of humanitarian assistance is misrepresented. The IDPs figure in Amhara region has reached half a million now, while the resolution indicates less than half of that. On the contrary it inflates the figure of those that are in desperate need of support in Tigray region from 400,000 to close to million.

The TPLF clique has also destroyed livelihoods and infrastructure in Afar and Amhara including schools, religious places and health facilities. No mention of the disappearance of over 400 UN trucks over the past three months in Tigray that were supposed to transport rounds of assistance for the needy. This is a fact well noted by the UN Ethiopia Office.

While a desert locust was a phenomenon in many parts of Ethiopia, the resolution singles out the problem to be related only to the Tigray region.

It also deliberately missed mentioning the attack on Eritrean refuges in Tigray camps by the TPLF forces after the 28th June 2021 unilateral ceasefire.

On the operative paragraphs, it omits the government’s official acceptance of AU’s rale to solve the problem and the welcome extended to AU designated special representative to the Horn of Africa.  On the contrary the TPLF clique had opposed AU’s role.

Finally, it misses an important development in the country, welcomed by millions of Ethiopians, which is related to the democratic election held on the 21st of June and efforts being made to continue all-inclusive national political dialogue this month in October. 

The new government has been formed, the inauguration of Prime Minister, H.E Dr. Abiy Ahmed and Speakers of the two Chambers of the Parliament took place on the 4″ of October 2021.

In conclusion, we would like to reiterate the successive communications made by the House of Peoples’ Representatives of Ethiopia to the European Parliament, the continued engagement of Ethiopian Embassies to share facts on the ground to many of the EU parliament members was made out of respect for the longstanding relations and the strategic partnership that exists between Ethiopia and the European Union. 

It is very sad to observe that our efforts have not helped to bring the right perspective to the situation in Ethiopia.

They requested the European Parliament to reconsider and reverse the draft resolution in light of the facts stated above.