No Blockade Was Imposed by Fed Gov't to Stop Humanitarian Aid to Tigray: Italian Journalist

July 23, 2022 (ENA) There has never been a blockade purposely imposed by the Federal Government of Ethiopia to stop humanitarian aid from reaching the people in Tigray Region, Italian journalist Francesca Ronchin said.

The independent TV and print journalist who focuses on migration recently visited areas affected by war in Amhara and Afar regions and also witnessed humanitarian aid flow to Tigary.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Ronchin said there has never been a blockade purposely imposed by the federal government to stop aid from reaching people in Tigray.

“I spoke with some of the World Food Program (WFP) officials. They also told me that there has never been a blockade put by the government. There was a problem in certain months because there was war. Since there was war and conflict in some areas, it was difficult for trucks to get into the region,” she elaborated.

Many international communities keep saying that the Ethiopian Federal government is not helping Tigray Region, she said, adding that “they are biased and have other reasons. They have their own political interests to keep fostering and creating attention within the country.”

Commenting on the accusations of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom, who was Executive Committee member of the terrorist TPLF group, she said he still keeps using his office for political reasons.

“The citizens of the world expected him to have a global view and to care about all the population of the world,  particularly all the populations of Ethiopia since Ethiopia is a country that supported him when he was elected for WHO for the first time.”

According to her, he should care about all Ethiopians; but just by looking at his comments and posts focusing on Tigray I can say that his reasons are political.

“I think it is very bad and sad to witness how a person can use his role for political reasons.”

Furthermore, Ronchin pointed out that he perhaps has big and important network of people who support his cause and mission.

There is also a big part in the international community that considers his voice reliable, important; and just trusts him because of his role. They have no idea what is happening on the ground, she explained.

“For some of them maybe they are just supporting his political line for political interest. But there are also other big parts of people who have no clue about the real situation in Ethiopia.”