Food, medicines, access to banking services, the possibility of receiving salaries, communication with the outside world, supply of goods in supermarkets, freedom of movement ... are all the goods and rights that have been brutally suspended in the region since the outbreak of the war, they denounce from the Eparchy of Adigrat, which also covers the Tigray Region.
A war which, moreover, has also entailed all kinds of atrocities and abuses against the civilian population: massacres, gender violence and war rapes, looting and arson of property, homes, places of worship, economic activities, health, educational and cultural institutions... About 1.7 million children have been deprived of access to education throughout this time, generating damage that will not be compensated in any way.
Shocking images of crimes against humanity have also recently circulated through social networks, showing some prisoners of war being burned alive. Although it is up to the international authorities to verify and attribute responsibility, the circulation of such scenes alone is in itself shocking and horrifying.
The humanitarian needs in the region of Tigray are enormous and the entire population is affected: even many professionals who in the past had contributed to the development of the entire country are now reduced to hunger and forced to beg to survive a famine induced by human hands and easily preventable diseases.
Women, children, the elderly, and people of all backgrounds are dying every minute because they are deprived of their sacrosanct rights to life and basic services, and because of the failure to provide meaningful and proportionate access to life-saving humanitarian aid.
Faced with this terrifying reality, the Catholic Church in Tigray condemns all atrocities and crimes and demands: unrestricted access to humanitarian aid; that all suspended services and rights be allowed back in Tigray and other regions where they are needed; the withdrawal of armed forces from Tigray and the return of all displaced persons to their homes; and finally, peaceful dialogue to bring this fratricidal war to an end.
Without swift action by the entire international community, the lives of millions of people in Tigray will remain on the brink of death.
Source: Eparchy of Adigrat
