Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development

Sous-comité des droits internationaux de la personne du Comité permanent des affaires étrangères et du développement international

For immediate release

Ottawa, March 01, 2021 -

On 16 February 2021, the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (the Subcommittee) heard from witnesses who shared details of the evolving crisis in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

A little over two months ago, the Government of Ethiopia responded to an attack on a military site in the Tigray region with unprecedented military force, signalling the beginning of a conflict that has given rise to one of the world’s most acute humanitarian crises. The government’s response was in keeping with the “creeping authoritarianism” that has come to define Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s short tenure. Since taking office, his government has imposed severe limits on public demonstrations and arrested opposition leaders and activists.

The Subcommittee was troubled by witness testimony that people in the Tigray region are being subjected to serious human rights violations and other horrors. According to one witness, “[g]ang rape has become commonplace,” and civilians have been bombed by military operations that have also destroyed schools, hospitals, refugee camps and markets.

The violence has disrupted the region’s subsistence farming and other economic activities, leaving people in Tigray increasingly in need of aid to cover their basic needs. Instead of helping vulnerable civilians, however, the Subcommittee was told that the Ethiopian government is “weaponizing hunger” by restricting necessary humanitarian aid to the region.

The worsening situation has caused an outpouring of refugees from Ethiopia to Sudan, spawning another crisis. A humanitarian worker in the region emphasized to the Subcommittee the urgency with which aid is needed, noting that 25% of Sudan’s population was already in need of humanitarian assistance and that it is entirely unable to support the 60,000 refugees who have just arrived from Ethiopia.

The Subcommittee is deeply troubled by the catastrophic events occurring in Tigray and urges the Government of Ethiopia to protect its civilians and allow immediate and full humanitarian access to the region. Given the intensified humanitarian situation, the Subcommittee commends Global Affairs Canada for its provision of additional assistance to humanitarian partners in Tigray in November and presses the government to continue its support throughout the ongoing crisis.