Human Rights and Security Deteriorate in Northern Ethiopia as Tigray Conflict Spreads

The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet is urging the Ethiopian government, Tigrayan forces and other armed groups to end the violence and abuses that are keeping northern Ethiopia in crisis.

U.N. rights chief Bachelet expressed alarm Tuesday at the growing human rights and humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia. She said the 16-month conflict between Ethiopian government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, has spread into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara.

High Commissioner Bachelet spoke of the growing humanitarian crisis in the region. She notes hostilities and insecurity continue to block the delivery of humanitarian supplies into Tigray. This, she says, has led to growing food insecurity, poverty, and displacement.