Horn of Africa

Photo credit: European Union | Mathias Eick

EU and the US Concerned About the Humanitarian Emergency in Tigray

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Together with the United Nations, the European Commission has urged "all parties to the conflict" in Ethiopia’s Tigray region to agree to "a ceasefire immediately to facilitate humanitarian assistance to reach all people in need in Tigray regardless of where they are and to stop violence against civilians".

Leading representatives of the two organizations had a virtual meeting on June 10 to discuss the situation seven months into the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 11 June 2021

Photo: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali apparently asked Eritrea dictator Isaias Afewerki to launch a second offensive in Tigray with the aim of destroying the TPLF. Source: lndro.it

Afwerki’s Regime in Eritrea Has Been a Malign Influence in The Horn of Africa

Viewpoint by Daniel Haile*

COLLEGE STATION, Texas | USA (IDN) — The Ethiopian government claims the conflict in Tigray is a law enforcement operation, but that is incorrect; it is a war involving the Ethiopian government, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the malign foreign influence of the Eritrean regime. The Eritrean regime in Asmara will be the only victor from the Ethiopian civil war.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 05 June 2021

Photo: Screenshot of EEPA Webinar on May 25.

Call for Referring Conflict-related Sexual Violence to International Criminal Court

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) — The scale and brutality of crimes of conflict-related sexual violence against women committed in Tigray have drawn widespread condemnation from around the world.

It was no surprise that the Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) focussed on that theme in the Webinar organised on May 25. EEPA is a Belgium-based centre of expertise with in-depth knowledge, publications, and networks, specialised in issues of peacebuilding, refugee protection, and resilience in the Horn of Africa.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 27 May 2021

Photo: Late Afternoon in the neighborhood, Axum, Ethiopia, in Oct. 2017. C BY 2.0

A Situation Report on the Horn of Africa

Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) is a Belgium-based Centre of Expertise with in-depth knowledge, publications, and networks, specialised in issues of peacebuilding, refugee protection, and resilience in the Horn of Africa. Go to https://www.eepa.be/?page_id=4237 for weekly for all situation reports.

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Doctors told CNN that Ethiopian soldiers armed with machine guns, sniper rifles, and grenades raided a hospital in the Tigray region twice this week in retribution.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 20 May 2021

Image: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Credit: Anadolu Agency

Sudan Declines Ethiopian Proposal for Data Sharing on Dam Filling

By Sudan Tribune

KHARTOUM (IDN) — Sudan has declined an Ethiopian offer to share data on the second filling of a giant dam before reaching a legally binding agreement. Egypt has adopted a similar position.

Ethiopia’s foreign ministry on April 9 said it has formally requested Sudan and Egypt to "nominate dam operators to exchange data before the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) commences in the upcoming rainy seasons in Ethiopia".

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 12 April 2021

Photo: Tigray forces. Source: Tufts University.

Keeping an Eye on The Situation in Tigray War

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) — The midnight of November 3-4, 2020 witnessed the unleashing of the armed conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. For nearly a fortnight there was a communication blackout until on November 17 the Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) launched a daily situation report.

March 10 marked the 100th edition of its publication, which has been following the chain of events of the war in Tigray. A close look at the situation reports reveals that the continuing war is regional, has been so from the start and that it had been planned as such.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 11 March 2021

Photo: Displaced people in Adigrat town, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. © UNICEF/Zerihun Sewunet

Brutal Gender-Based Violence in Tigray — A Personal Account

By EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) — “A woman in her 40s was found dead on the road to her home. She was found with her hands tied, injured to her head and sexually assaulted. This was in Mekelle. I know her son.” This is what one of our reporters (A.G.), who herself is a young woman, has reported.

The extent and cruelty of the assaults, sexual violence and rape of women and girls that the Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) has received information about is simply chilling. Much of it goes unreported. There is still no internet, and journalists were prevented from reaching the region for three months. Often, these atrocities are not reported, because the facts are just too repulsive. How do you talk about such horrific incidences?

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 08 March 2021

Photo: Ethiopian refugees fleeing clashes in the country's northern Tigray region, rest and cook meals near UNHCR's Hamdayet reception centre after crossing into Sudan. Credit: © UNHCR/Hazim Elhag

Humanitarian Situation Getting from Bad to Worse in the Horn

By S. Gianesello

BRUSSELS (IDN | EEPA) — As the UN Security Council prepared to meet on March 4 to talk over the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the situation in the Horn of Africa was getting from bad to worse with reports of ethnic targeting and cleansing. The meeting was requested by Ireland, joined by other members of the UN Security Council.

Diplomats stated there is no assurance that the closed-door meeting will produce a joint statement. The Security Council held several meetings over the situation in Tigray since the beginning of the conflict, on November 4, 2020. The last Council meeting was held on February 2, 2021.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 03 March 2021

Photo: Long lines of people forced to flee Ethiopia's Tigray region waiting outside the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) office in Sudan's Um Rakuba camp. Photo: Ingebjørg Kårstad/NRC

U.S. President Biden Concerned About "Deteriorating Humanitarian Crisis" in the Horn

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — In what may be U.S. President Joe Biden’s first major test in Africa, a key U.S. ally stands accused of undertaking a campaign of ethnic cleansing, massacring hundreds of unarmed civilians and threatening the fragile stability of the region.

President Biden, confronting the scenario linked to U.S. ally Ethiopia, shared his concerns in a telephone call on February 25 to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 01 March 2021

Photo: The Port of Djibouti is located at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, at the intersection of major international shipping lines connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. Credit: China Merchants Port Holdings.

Why the U.S. Should Build A New Base in Eritrea

Viewpoint by Daniel Haile*

COLLEGE STATION, Texas | USA (IDN) — The United States should abandon its base in Djibouti and build a new military base in Eritrea after the Communist regime in Asmara falls from power. daniel_haile.jpg

The communist regime of 78-year-old dictator Isaias Afwerki has an expiration date. When the current government in Asmara is overthrown, either from a coup d'état or the death of Afwerki, the US should build a strong relationship with Eritrea's future ruler to persuade them to host a US military base in Assab or Massawa.