The United Nations says it has yet to receive any official communication relating to UN staff and contractors detained by Ethiopian authorities. Of the 16 UN national staff confirmed detained on Tuesday, UN officials now say at least nine remain in detention while further 70-plus drivers contracted to the World Food Programme and other aid agencies were arrested in Semera, the capital of the Afar region which borders Tigray.
The city of Semera is viewed as a gateway for aid convoys seeking to reach Tigray where the humanitarian need is most acute due to the yearlong conflict between the Federal Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
The ethnicity of the UN staff detained remains unclear but reports from the region suggest that as part of the broad powers invoked by the declaration of national State of Emergency by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week, ethnic Tigrayans were specifically being targeted with arrest.
The Associated Press quotes a government spokesperson saying the UN staff members were detained because of “participation in terror” unrelated to their work but without providing additional details.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said it had received reports that authorities were detaining people of Tigrayan descent.
Stephane Dujarric – the UN Secretary General’s Spokesperson, “We have – as far as I’m aware – not received any official explanation while the number of UN staff as well as people who’ve been contracted to work for the UN are in detention and continue to be detained. The current numbers that I have is that at least nine UN staff members are currently detained. We continue to work and engage with the government to secure their release. We’ve also received reports that at least 70 people who’ve been contracted by the UN to drive trucks have also been detained. They’ve been contracted by both the UN and a number of international NGOs and again, we are calling for their release.”
The UN’s Humanitarian Office says the ongoing conflict has resulted in large-scale displacement, coupled with drought, flooding and disease outbreaks that continue to drive humanitarian needs across Ethiopia, with 7 million people directly impacted by the fighting in the country’s north.
“We can only talk about the facts. We’ve not been able to get the humanitarian aid that we need in. We’ve seen some staff detained. On the other hand, we’ve seen the government facilitate and support Martin Griffiths (UN Humanitarian Relief Coordinator) travels both to Mekelle and to Addis, so we are continuing with the dialogue. Our only aim is really to, our only immediate aim is to bring humanitarian support to the millions of people in Ethiopia and especially in northern Ethiopia who so desperately need it,” Dujarric added.
Dujarric says the detention of drivers further undermines their efforts to get in much-needed aid and relief.
“Well, again, we didn’t give the orders right. But one can only imagine the impact of detaining 70 truckers who are driving trucks that are filled with desperately needed humanitarian goods. It sure doesn’t help the humanitarian situation. Those trucks are not moving, and we desperately need them to move.”
The conflict in northern Ethiopia has killed thousands and displaced more than two million people and has reduced the country’s economy – once one of the fastest-growing in Africa, certainly over the last decade – to a shadow of itself with inflation hitting 35% in September as food and fuel prices soar.
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