The UN Security Council on Tuesday was due to hold its first meeting on the conflict in Ethiopia’s dissident Tigray region amid division between European and African members over whether the closed-door discussion should take place.
After African countries pulled out of organizing the virtual meeting, France, Britain, Belgium, Germany and Estonia, backed by the United States, announced that the meeting would go ahead.
An European diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity that “They say ‘Africans solutions to African problems.’ It is something that we have to respect only to a certain degree,”
“At a certain moment, we have to put it on the agenda, even if the Africans don’t like it,” he added, highlighting the Europeans’ impatience over the lack of Security Council action on the weeks-long fighting.
Earlier, South Africa, Niger, Tunisia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines withdrew their request because envoys have yet to travel to Ethiopia, said one African diplomat.
“It is necessary to allow more time for the regional efforts that are being undertaken in this regard,” he had told AFP.
In an announcement on Friday, the African Union said that three former presidents had been appointed as special envoys to Ethiopia to help mediation efforts between the conflicting parties.
For nearly three weeks, forces loyal to Tigray’s ruling party have been battling Ethiopian soldiers
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has ordered the leaders of the northern region of Tigray to surrender ahead of a threatened all-out assault on its capital, Mekele.
On November 4, Abiy launched the military campaign against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, accusing it of attacking two federal military camps in the region, and of seeking to destabilize his government.
Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed, but lack of communication has made claims from both sides difficult to verify.
UN chief Antonio Guterres last week noted that authorities had so far rejected attempts at mediation calling for the opening of humanitarian corridors to assist civilians caught in the fighting.
Speaking to reporters in New York, the secretary-general said “We are very worried about the situation in Ethiopia,” he also warned of a “dramatic humanitarian impact” including in neighbouring Sudan.
“We have been asking for the full respect of international humanitarian law and also for the opening of humanitarian corridors and the truces that might be necessary for humanitarian aid to be delivered,” he said.
The UN’s refugee agency said on Monday that over 40,000 Ethiopians have fled to neighbouring Sudan.
Tagged as: UN, Ethopia, Tigray, Security Council.
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