WFP regional director says 'virtually no aid access in Tigray'

Following the resumption of fighting in northern Ethiopia at the end of August, there is now “virtually no access and hence no humanitarian support going into Tigray,” according to Michael Dunford, regional director for eastern Africa at the World Food Programme.

“In many ways, we're back to square one,” he said about the nearly two-yearlong conflict during a conversation hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS.

Millions of people across northern Ethiopia — including Tigray, Afar, and Amhara — are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. While the conflict has impacted all of these regions significantly, the government has imposed specific restrictions on the flow of aid into Tigray, which has included blockades on telecommunications and banking services.

The aid access situation improved in Tigray following a humanitarian truce declared at the end of March. While the months that followed were “a long way from perfect” they were also “an extraordinarily positive period for WFP,” Dunford said, compared to the de facto blockade of aid before the truce and the current inaccessibility.

During those five months after the truce, WFP brought 240,000 metric tons of aid into the region, and moved over 8,000 trucks in and out, he said. The agency also moved 2.5 million liters of fuel into the region for its operations, which was available to other humanitarian players.

“Significant progress was made, but it was far from perfect. The telecommunication system was still down, the ability to bring in cash to the extent required was still limited,” he said. During this time WFP also accused Tigray’s military forces of forcibly seizing 570,000 liters of fuel from one of its warehouses in Mekelle.

But when the conflict erupted again on Aug. 24, Tigray was once again severed off from humanitarian access. The gains made in the previous five months “evaporated,” Dunford said.

He said that WFP can’t move trucks nor fuel into the region and all current food distributions are from food brought in before the renewed fighting. WFP staff have not been able to leave Tigray, and the United Nations flights humanitarian groups were using into Tigray’s capital of Mekelle are suspended.

“We've got huge levels of food insecurity; 89% of the population — 5.2 million people, we estimate have limited food capacity, over 40% of them acutely food insecure,” he said.

During the CSIS event, Abdullahi Boru Halakhe, senior advocate for East Africa at Refugees International, said the Ethiopian government has used a “slow burning tactic” to deny people food as “a tactic of war” for two years.

While aid groups have taken a pragmatic approach in aiming to not upset the government throughout the conflict so they could retain access, it's all for naught, Boru Halakhe said.

“They have shut it down now,” he said. “What was the use of not pushing the envelope?”

Boru Halakhe said the international community has largely left this conflict to play out. “I think for the Ethiopian government, they feel insulated,” he said.

He called for a “robust response,” with diplomacy not taking place behind the scenes or dependent on special envoys, who won’t “move the needle.” He added the African Union process is not likely to yield results. “It will be almost dead on arrival,” he said. “We need to figure out what other processes … can be engaged.”