EU High Representative raises concerns over human rights and access to aid in Tigray, Ethiopia

Following the latest Council of European foreign ministers (22 February), EU High Representative Josep Borrell said the fighting had to stop, humanitarian access should be provided, investigations of human rights violations would have to take place and international humanitarian law respected.

Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Pekka Haavisto visited Ethiopia and Sudan as an envoy for the EU’s high representative. He reported that 80% of the Tigray people (more than 6 million) were unreachable and Haavisto said that on his visits to the refugee camps the situation was "very concerning". 

Over the past four months, the conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, which shares a border with Eritrea and Sudan, has experienced growing protests and reports of clashes and war crimes. 

Several parts of Central, North Western, Eastern and Southern Tigray are still unreached by humanitarian aid, and people who fled to these areas have not received food or other vital assistance since the beginning of the conflict in early November. Access to rural areas remains hindered and insecurity in Southern and South-Eastern Tigray is limiting access to areas that were previously reachable. 

The OCHR UN human rights organization say that they are hearing extremely worrying reports of atrocities against civilians over the past weeks. At least 108 instances of rape have been reported to health facilities, according to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. As rapes are usually under-reported due to stigma and fear of retaliation, the actual number of cases is likely to be significantly higher. 

Similarly, the Ethiopian Minister of Women, Children and Youth Filsan Abudhalli Ahmed published a series of tweets, saying that rape has conclusively taken place. These recent findings add weight to distressing incidences that have been noted by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten, including reports of individuals forced to rape members of their own family. 

Although more than 71% of the funding requested early in the conflict has been received, some critical sectors including health, shelter, education and protection remain underfunded. 

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