Ethiopia’s Humanitarian Unilateral Truce must be Reciprocated by TPLF

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BY SOLOMON DIBABA

A week ago, the Ethiopian government issued a unilateral truce in Tigray to meet the humanitarian needs of citizens in the region. The truce was meant to effectively expedite swift and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid for the people in Tigray who have been suffering under terrorist TPLF’s irresponsible and inhuman actions, subjecting the people of Tigray to untold hunger and destitution.

Some may think this is a total surprise and a swift change of position on the part of the Ethiopian Government. However, the latest decision made by the government is consistent with the overall strategy that the government was pursuing in the region and is in fact the third round of unilateral cessation of ceasefire that the government had previously taken in the region even when  terrorist TPLF group had continued to wage a war of insanity, cold bloodily massacring citizens,  conducting politically motivated campaigns of rape, destruction of public and private infrastructures and gross violation of human rights and crimes against humanity.

The Government Communication Service  Minister Dr. Legesse Tulu said that the truce could be applicable when the terrorist organization would withdraw from all territories it had occupied in Amhara and Tigray regions to give way for smooth delivery of food to the needy in Tigray, Afar and Amhara. Unlike the terrorist organization, the ENDF is not a war monger and the government has never chosen war as a means of resolving internal issued by use of force.

It is regrettable to observe that some self-styled analysts on the situation in the country had attempted to create a political agenda against the government for declaring humanitarian truce gesture for its own citizens in Tigray.

The older misinformation and propaganda that has saturated local and international media outlets spread the false information that the ENDF had started the war.  However, TPLF has admitted that it takes  the sole responsibility of starting the war on the people and government of Ethiopia on the midnight of November 3, 2020. This categorically implies that the terrorist organization is responsible for the multi-faceted agony, food shortage and total breakdown of basic social services.

 Terrorist TPLF has continued to lie in daylight that it did not start the war but the consequences of its barbaric war on citizens in Afar and Amhara vividly indicate that the terrorist group has no interest in addressing the hardship of citizens in the three regions but care for its burning desire to stay in power indefinitely.

 It is to be recalled that the terrorist organization started to starve the people in Tigray even during the regional Interim Administration in Tigray. TPLF's  cadre were moving from village to village in the rural areas threatening to take punitive actions on them if they work on their farms. They forced them to skip the farming seasons and ordered every family to offer them a child to serve as militant, thereby destroying the family fabric in the region. Even then, the Ethiopian government expended over 100 billion Birr to rehabilitate the war ravaged region.

As usual, quite a few analysts tried to show that the government was only responding to the pressure from foreign countries and had no desire to address the humanitarian needs of the citizens in Tigray. The Ethiopian Government is accountable to the people of Ethiopia that had elected it and has not been taking orders from western powers who were laboring from dawn to dusk to enthrone the terrorist organization.

The truce was also declared in response to the plight of citizens in Tigray who are desperately fleeing to the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, which were already devastated by TPLF’s barbaric war.  

It is interesting to note that even well placed politicians try to equate the declaration of the truce with the entire internal political situation in the country and forecast a grim situation of its applicability. This indeed depends upon the behavioral change on the part of the terrorist organization and its political commitment for the safety and wellbeing of the citizens in the region.

Of course, in a statement the Government Communication Service issued on 29 March, 2022, the 43-truck food aid authorized to the World Food Program (WFP) had not been transported to Tigray region due to the closure of Abala Road by TPLF militants. The statement calls on the international community to put pressure on the Tigray militants to withdraw from the Afar and Amhara districts, where they are being held hostage, and to comply with their commitments to ceasefire.

In contrast to what the TPLF has been doing in Tigray in dismantling the political and legal structure in the region, the government chose to give peace a chance as it is extremely important for the livelihood of citizens in Tigray.

The government repeatedly called on TPLF group in Tigray to rethink of its mischievous deeds.  To the contrary, the group was preparing for an all-out war against the people and government of Ethiopia in a bid to destroy the entire political order and disintegrate the country into numerous banana republics that are ruled by a confederation led by TPLF from Tigray.

Except for recruiting child soldiers, women and even the elderly for its  savagery crime, the terrorist group has been conducting on fellow citizens, using untrained youth and children as cannon fodder and massacring those who retreated. And this act of the terrorist TPLF has never triggered the international community to condemn or put pressure on the brutal group.

The declaration of the unilateral humanitarian truce has earned Ethiopia appreciation among the international community of nations including those who were ardent supporters of the TPLF including the USA and UK.  Those who were falsely accusing the government of using food aid as a weapon of war are now forced to swallow the bitter truth: terrorist TPLF militants have still occupied some districts of Afar and Amhara regions.

The international community still needs to take into account that the efforts made only by the government cannot bring the desired results and that citizens in Tigray cannot get relief aid if TPLF continues to horde food and feed for its army and sell the rest to local pro TPLF merchants, apart from  blocking the Abala Road through which humanitarian assistance reaches to Tigray.  TPLF must also open up the  Abala Road for the passage of humanitarian assistance to people in Tigray.

International aid agencies should also  give swift response of  food delivery to  all the victims of the war in Amhara and Afar who have lost their means of livelihood due to the savage war inflicted on them by TPLF forces.

Along with the urgent supply of food to the three regions, a massive rehabilitation that includes agricultural package needs to be launched so that local farmer can produce their own food instead of waiting for relief food for longer period of time. The next farming season including the Belg and Meher should not be missed.

Unless there is a strong administrative structure that can honestly handle the relief program at grassroots level, the efforts of humanitarian provisions cannot bring about the required  level of impact, given the terrorists barbaric acts.

Experience from the past event of lootings of food aid by the TPLF fighters necessitates strong coordination at the regional level among the NGOs working in the region and also a strict monitoring and evaluation system based on accountability to ensure the needy people get the assistance. There should be a high level of equity and response to the special needs of the sick, the elderly. Infants, malnourished children and lactating mothers as well as persons with disabilities.

Despite the efforts made by the government and TPLF’s resolution to agree to the decision by the government, the terrorist organization declared war on three fronts only after 24 hours of the declaration of the truce. The terrorist organization is already violating the truce which it said has accepted. This indicates the TPLF is trying to engage in false truce while still getting ready for the third round of war on Amhara and Afar. The international community is expected to closely monitor the situation and should not allow the terrorist organization to continue with its rampage of war but condemn it.

TPLF seems to exploit the unilateral ceasefire that the government has issued as an opportunity to wage extensive war on neighboring states through its surrogate terrorist organizations.

Putting a stringent legal accountability is also another important precondition that needs to be observed. All those who committed  crimes must be made accountable for their actions and get their punishments through a due process of law.

As stated earlier, urgent lifesaving relief supply for the three regions is a priority but the rehabilitation of health and educational institutions and schools destroyed by TPLF needs to be given attention as lifesaving also involves providing medical services for those who need closer medical attention.

The international community should also provide support to Ethiopia’s efforts to reinstate basic social services damaged by the terrorist group.

The commitment made by terrorist TPLF needs to be respected and the entire public is expected to cooperate with the government and all those who provide relief supplies for those who need urgent assistance.

Ethiopian News Agency
2023