Ethiopia says government officials, Eritrean troops ‘stole’ aid meant for Tigray
In this file photo taken on June 9, 2022, a convoy of trucks part of a convoy of the World Food Programme on their way to Tigray are seen in the village of Erebti, Ethiopia.
An investigation team looking into recent allegations of aid diversion in Ethiopia says Eritrean forces, federal and regional government officials in Tigray were involved in the theft of humanitarian aid meant for war-affected people.
Fiseha Kidane, the coordinator of the Tigray investigation committee, who is also the regional head of peace and security in Tigray, said Ethiopian federal government agencies and Eritrean forces played a major role in the diversion of food aid.
"Tigray regional authorities, IDP camp coordinators and aid workers were also involved," he said of the widespread diversion of humanitarian aid that led international aid agencies such as the World Food Programme to suspend aid deliveries in the Tigray region.
The WFP and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) suspended food distributions in Tigray last month after significant amounts of aid destined for the needy were stolen.
The two agencies then suspended food aid distributions across Ethiopia last week after identifying 'a nationwide diversion scheme primarily targeting donor-funded food commodities'.
The massive diversion scheme "appears to be orchestrated" by federal and regional government agencies, "with military units across the country benefiting from humanitarian assistance," according to the memo, which was prepared by the Humanitarian and Resilience Donor Group (HRDG), of which USAID is a member.
The Ethiopian army has denied that its forces were involved in the diversion of aid.
The preliminary findings of the Tigray regional investigation committee confirmed the theft of more than 860 kg of wheat and 215,000 litres of cooking oil.
Authorities in Tigray say they have arrested 185 suspects involved in the scheme, and seven have been tried so far.
Regional authorities are calling on WFP and USAID to resume food aid distributions, arguing that the suspension will only exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people rely on food aid to survive.
The Ethiopian and Eritrean governments have yet to comment on the allegations.
Eritrean forces, who fought alongside the Ethiopian army in the Tigray conflict, have not fully withdrawn from parts of Tigray.
The two-year conflict in Tigray has killed nearly a million people and left hundreds of thousands facing famine-like conditions.
