The head of the World Health Organization made a heartfelt plea on Thursday for his country’s troubled Tigray area, claiming he had relatives he can’t contact or send money to because of a blockade by government forces.
In some of his most intimate remarks on the area, which saw violence erupt once more on Wednesday after months of calm, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus regretted his helplessness to assist loved ones among the 6 million people who were all but trapped in Tigray.
“I have many relatives there. I want to send the money. I cannot send the money. They are starving. I know I cannot help them,” he said, the latest in a string of pleas about Tigray he has made during regular WHO news briefings.
“I cannot help them. I can’t help them. I can share from what I have. I cannot do that because they are completely sealed off,” Tedros added.
“I can’t speak to them. I don’t know even who is dead or who is alive.”
A native of Tigray, Tedros has spoken out against humanitarian problems in several countries, including Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, and the Congo. He has stressed that he is not favoring Tigray.
He previously stated that he believes his people have been ignored because of the color of their skin in a world concerned with other trouble spots and worries, but he has worked to combat this perception.
He claimed that the Tigray crisis was unique because government forces in Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea have virtually blocked off the province from the outside world, including from humanitarian relief supplies that its people desperately need.
“Can you tell me any place in the same situation in the world?” he said. “We are talking about the six million people (who) are collectively being punished.”
Authorities in Tigray charged Ethiopia’s military on Wednesday with beginning a “large-scale” operation in Tigray for the first time in a year. Tigrayan forces, in response, claimed that they had launched the initial assault.
In the second-most populous nation in Africa, the violence broke out in November 2020 and resulted in thousands of deaths.
