Conflict in Northern Ethiopia between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian government has displaced more than 1.8 million people, creating dozens of refugee camps across the region. Living conditions in the camps soon became characterized by food scarcity and a lack of basic rights. International humanitarian organizations such as the U.N. partnered with the Ethiopian government to provide aid supplies to the refugees. Even with the temporary end of the conflict inaugurated by the cease-fire in November 2022 and the outside humanitarian aid, conditions in the camp remained precarious. 

Lack of Access to Basic Needs in the Wake of the Aid Suspension

Recently, the encampments have been plunged once more into profound insecurity. Because of nefarious groups’ organized theft of the humanitarian food relief meant for the refugees of the Tigray region, organizations, such as the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), suspended their deliveries in June, leaving many in a precarious position. Refugees already suffered from extreme food insecurity in Tigray and often faced malnutrition and malnutrition-related health conditions. The relief cut-off has only exacerbated an already precarious situation. 

Months after the aid suspension, deliveries still have not resumed. The U.S. and the U.N. have demanded that the Ethiopian government relinquish control of the food relief distribution system in light of the discovered thefts. Until Ethiopian officials do so, the U.S. and U.N. withhold the necessary food and oil supplies for fear that the government will not transmit them to the refugees. The stolen food is equivalent to the number of rations needed to feed the 134,000 people in the Tigray town for a month, and medical supplies are also missing. 

An investigation revealed that multiple shipments of grain provided by USAID were sold for profit in different local markets. Both the Ethiopian government and Tigray rebel fighters have been accused of confiscating the food meant for refugees to feed their demobilized armed forces. Some have also accused the Ethiopian government of diverting the aid meant for the region as a strategy to weaken the region and use starvation as a method of warfare by encouraging food insecurity in Tigray.

Local Nonprofit Centers Overwhelmed by Demand

An estimated 20 million people across Ethiopia rely on these foreign aid deliveries. Some refugees described having to resort to gathering seeds from the surrounding grounds to sustain their families. Others indicated not being able to eat for days at a time. The increase in malnutrition has led to a rise in nutritional deficiency-related diseases, with many refugee children presenting developmental delays. With limited access to aid from the more prominent international organizations, local nonprofit centers have been instrumental in keeping communities across the country afloat. 

The Salesians of Don Bosco have been especially instrumental, regularly helping thousands across the region. With Salesian missionaries’ particularity of living in the communities they support, they are uniquely informed on what community members require by building community bonds with those in need. The Salesian nonprofit centers and other nonprofit organizations are, however, overwhelmed in the wake of the aid suspension. Thousands gather outside the doors of the aid centers, yet they are simply unable to meet the immense demand, and the return of international aid is urgently needed. 

Looking Ahead

The U.N. is currently testing out different initiatives in certain parts of Tigray that use new methods of food assistance and delivery. The U.N. designed these testing initiatives to find an effective method to enable adequate control and surveillance of food deliveries, safeguarding against possible thefts, and hopefully, soon allowing the resumption of large-scale food assistance programs in the region. 

– Tatiana Gnuva
Photo: Flickr