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from: CARA ANNA, Associated Press
Posted: Nov 10, 2021 / 6:24 am CST
Updated: 11/10/2021 / 6:24 AM CST
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – According to the United Nations, last week the Ethiopian authorities arrested and detained around 70 truck drivers who have been contracted by the UN and other aid agencies since the government declared a state of emergency amid the escalating war exclaimed.
Wednesday’s statement said the United Nations is investigating the reasons for the arrests since November 3rd in the town of Semera, the gateway for aid convoys struggling to reach the Tigray region, what the United Nations calls “ de facto humanitarian blockade ”. Government spokesman Legesse Tulu did not answer questions.
The statement came a day after the UN announced that at least 16 local employees had been arrested in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in the past few days. All are ethnic Tigrayans, whom witnesses say have been swept away by the thousands since the state of emergency was declared in response to reports that Tigray troops fighting Ethiopian forces were approaching the capital.
Government spokesman Legesse told The Associated Press that the 16 UN workers were arrested for “participating in terrorism,” which had nothing to do with their work, with no details. The government says it is arresting people suspected of assisting Tigray forces.
The new UN declaration states that the arrested drivers belong to “different ethnicities”. It was not clear whether there was such a large amount of driver incarceration earlier in the war.
The arrests further challenge efforts to provide humanitarian aid to millions of people in the Tigray region who have not received much-needed supplies such as food, medicine and fuel since the Ethiopian military air strikes on the capital Tigray on October 18 Has .
“It is estimated that 80% of the vital medicines in the region are no longer available,” the United Nations humanitarian organization said last week. Ethiopia’s government fears that aid to civilians may be diverted in support of Tigray forces and has accused humanitarian groups of arming fighters and mistakenly increasing the scale of the crisis without providing evidence.
The war in Africa’s second largest country has killed thousands of people and displaced millions. Urgent diplomatic efforts for an immediate ceasefire and talks have reported a small window of opportunity, but Tigray Forces spokesman Getachew Reda claimed in a tweet on Wednesday that “most of the ‘peace initiatives’ are mostly about saving (Ethiopia’s prime minister) … ours Failure to meet conditions, and the tendency to combine humanitarian problems with political ones is doomed to failure! “
The Tigray troops dominated the national government for 27 years before a political dispute broke out with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
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https://www.kxan.com/news/international/un-says-ethiopia-detains-some-70-drivers-who-deliver-aid/
