Protestors in Dessie Demand Support for Displaced from Wollo

September 14, 2021

Famine and raping of women pervasive in Wollo. Humanitarian and rights organizations have ignored the crisis, protestors say in Dessie 

Protestors marching in Dessie town center ( Photo : SM)

Borkena

Protestors in Dessie on Tuesday took to the street to protest the silence from government and non-government actors in the face of a spiraling humanitarian crisis in North Wollo. 

Over 500,000 people have been displaced from the Amhara region due to the TPLF invasion. Hundreds of thousands of them are currently in Dessie. 

They say they are not getting the support they need from humanitarian organizations and government, too. 

Thousands, including those recently displaced North Wollo,  demonstrated in Dessie. Protestors also said that the humanitarian crisis is not given media coverage that it deserves. 

“Our families are suffering,” “women are being raped,”, “humanitarian organizations have ignored the conflict”  and “Justice for Amhara people” are among the slogans that protestors chanted in Dessie. 

Currently, much of the support for those displaced and residing in Dessie comes from individuals and the business community in the city with the help of volunteers who are mobilizing it. 

Shortage of supplies of necessary medicine and food are critically affecting communities across North Wollo. 

The TPLF have looted hospitals and schools in that part of Amhara region of Ethiopia. Diabetic patients and patients with other conditions that need regular medications are dying because of the shortages. 

The distance between Mersa and Woldia is about 30 kilometres, and Mersa was reportedly freed from the TPLF control. No explanations are given on the part of the government as to why towns like Woldia are still in the hands of the TPLF terrorists. 

It may be understandable for those who have understanding about the military situation, but for the rest of the people it has remained puzzling. 

In fact, many seem to think that the government has abandoned the people of Wollo.  

Ephrem Assefa, who is said to be chairman of Woldia youth, reportedly said that the youth from the city are not headed to the war front because they are not armed, and they are not provided with training and arms, based on citizens’ reports from Dessie. 

Most parts of the South Gondar and some parts of North Wollo (like Flakit and Geregera) are freed from TPLF control. Commissioned officers within the Ethiopian Defense Force express optimism that they would bury the terrorist TPLF group within a short time. 

But until then people are suffering in North Wollo and the Government is not saying anything about the circumstances under which millons are languishing in the TPLF controlled areas. Agegnehu Teshager, president of Amhara region, this week said that the administration in the region does not know about the circumstances of about 4 million people that are under the TPLF control. 

Given the recurring massacres of civilians in Afar and Amhara region, it is clear that the people in the areas living in the TPLF controlled areas are in grave danger and facing unimaginable humanitarian crises too.