First Humanitarian convoy arrives in Ethiopia's Tigray since ceasefire : ICRC

 

The first assistance shipment by the organization to the troubled region since August, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, landed on Tuesday in Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray.

“It is an enormous relief for us to deliver this cargo,” said Nicolas Von Arx, the ICRC head of delegation in Ethiopia. “The health care system in the region is under extreme pressure and these deliveries are a lifeline for people who need medical help.”

 

The ICRC stated in a statement that the trucks brought 40 tons of "critical medical products, emergency medicines, and surgical equipment."

 

In order to put into effect a truce that was signed in South Africa earlier this month, military leaders from the warring parties signed an agreement on Saturday in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. After more than two years of relief limitations, it commits the parties to facilitating "unhindered" humanitarian access to Tigray, which is home to more than 5 million people.

 

The cease-fire deal has been praised as a chance to put an end to the Tigray war, which according to American diplomats has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

 

The future status of disputed land in the western section of Tigray will be decided in accordance with the country's constitution following the truce with Tigray's leaders, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated earlier on Tuesday.

 

Abiy assured the lawmakers that other than the cease-fire agreement, the region's future would be decided.

 

“We went to South Africa not to decide to have Wolkait in Amhara or Tigray, the Pretoria (agreement) has not that power … We agreed we should solve it based on Ethiopian law and system,” he said.

 

He hinted a referendum would be held to settle the matter after displaced people return to Wolkait. “People should be given the chance...to get democratic opportunities,” he said. “Only through that we can get a solution.”

 

Western Tigray, also known as Wolkait, is part of Tigray under Ethiopia’s constitution. But it was occupied by forces from the neighbouring Amhara state when war broke out in November 2020 between the federal army and fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF.

 

Wolkait’s status is hotly contested, with many in Amhara asserting the area was taken from them during the 27 years when the TPLF headed a governing coalition in Ethiopia.

 

Hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans were evicted from western Tigray during the Tigray conflict, leading to charges of “ethnic cleansing” from the U.S. State Department, and there have been massacres of both Tigrayans and Amharas in the region.

 

The war has resulted in widespread damage to infrastructure, with Ethiopia’s finance minister estimating the country will need nearly $20 billion to rebuild.