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Position Statement Tigrai Global Advocacy Group
21 May 2023
The Global Coalition of Tegaru (GCT) understands and appreciates the actions USAID and the World Food Program (WFP) took to suspend Food aid to Tigrai because there was corroborated theft and embezzlement of the aid. This was the first prompt Biden administration’s intervention to right injustice. We cannot say the same about the UN WFP because, in most instances, it was politicized and, in the past, stopped aid too soon and without firm evidence.
Regrettably, GCT believes that the suspension of aid is misdirected and, unless corrected immediately, stands to render irredeemable damage; the death of starving people, particularly children, who are highly vulnerable. As WFP and USAID know, the international food aid fed the Eritrean troops, the Amhara militia, the Ethiopian National Defense Force, and even the Tigrai Defense Force. We do not mean to argue or defend embezzlement and theft, but we want to raise a fundamental question, why now?
The suspension of aid, which includes food, medicine, and fertilizers right now, will lead to death, suffering, and delayed planting during the rainy season, guaranteeing the total dependence of the people of Tigrai on donations the following year. Furthermore, there is an extraordinary delay in implementing or executing promised actions in Tigrai. Our skepticism re: “USAID stands ready to restart paused food assistance only when strong oversight measures are in place, and we are confident that assistance will reach the intended vulnerable populations.” USAID Administrator; 5/23 is based on historical memory. Over six months and counting, the Pretoria Agreement is yet to be fully implemented. Logically, GCT believes that once interrupted, it is doubtful that food aid to Tigrai will resume promptly.
GCT’s request to reverse the USAID and WFP suspension of aid to Tigrai is not without precedent. In 1985, during the Reagan presidency, the military junta in Ethiopia diverted food to feed its soldiers; only 15% of what was sent to Tigrai reached the famine victims. Members of the coalition appeared and testified in Congress that 15% of the famine victims did not have it; the aid should, therefore, not be suspended. The argument prevailed against the political divide because the benefit outweighed the risk.
GCT strongly condemns the TPLF and Relief Society of Tigrai (REST) theft and embezzlement and recommends ardently that TPLF and REST be banned indefinitely from consideration of handling aid in any capacity. They have disgraced the cause and integrity of the people of Tigrai and given the region a black eye. The local Catholic Relief based in Adigrat has experience and integrity but must be complemented by a credible international relief agency with regional expertise.
GCT fully acknowledges that this will cost Tigrai institutional relief agency capacity-building opportunities until the management of donated relief is assured. A priority objective of the IRA must be to create financial institutions in Tigrai that would qualify to administer considerable aid money for reconstruction and rehabilitation. Donations to Tigrai must reach implementers with no intermediaries, especially government bureaucracies, to channel the fund. It would otherwise be the delayed operation witnessed during the federal and Eritrean government siege. As currently constituted, the IRA is nothing but TPLF and will mismanage the donations.
The most egregious crimes committed in Tigrai are yet to be acknowledged, let alone punished. Should priority dictate the order of justice in Tigrai, GCT identifies continued crimes against humanity reported daily; Eritrean and Amhara forces continuing atrocities, including extrajudicial killings, should have been stopped before suspending aid which assuredly will hurt the most vulnerable, adding insult to injury. GCT also affirms that the current suspension of assistance to Tigrai is a resumption of the siege, which had been 75% lifted. In other words, it will reinstate the death sentence for children not fully rehabilitated from starvation.
Tigrai is in shambles; the Interim Regional Administration (IRA) is different from what it was hoped to be. It needs more direction and grit to act expeditiously and move on. There needs to be more security. Members of the IRA are caught between the extremely intimidating preexisting political structure and the overwhelming demand generated by the worsening situation on the ground. The pressure of suspending aid only helps those who desire to destabilize Tigrai and derail the progress to peace.
There is still time to demand the government of Ethiopia and TPLF reconstitution of the IRA to inclusive but non-partisan members. Currently, the IRA, exclusively TPLF, subscribes to communist ideology and bureaucracy. To avoid or delay its eventual removal, it throws roadblocks and sabotages decisions and actions that would lead to positive outcomes. A dysfunctional IRA is detrimental to progress. The missed opportunity to work towards seedling democracy in Tigrai must be recaptured, and the West engages in this serious endeavor, a prototype of its kind. That is the silver lining in the Tigrai tragedy and chaos, which will soon be a missed opportunity unless the stakeholders pull the lever.
Tesfai Gabre-Kidan, MD
Chair,
Tigrai Global Advocacy Group
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