Briefing from Tigray External Affairs Office
The total blockade of Tigray has resulted in a calamitous humanitarian crisis, putting millions of
Tigrayans at risk of death by starvation and easily preventable diseases. In fact, the UN’s relief chief,
Martin Griffiths, had highlighted the deleterious impact of the “de facto blockade” of Tigray on humanitarian operations months ago. While limited aid—far from sufficient to meet burgeoning
needs—had been trickling into Tigray from July through mid-December, no humanitarian aid was
delivered from mid-December through the end of March overland, when the Abiy regime announced a
“humanitarian truce,” ostensibly to facilitate humanitarian aid to Tigray.
According to aid agencies, at least 100 truckloads of supplies are needed daily to meet humanitarian
needs on the ground. Based on this conservative estimate, from July 12 to April 20, about 28,400
truckloads of supplies should have arrived in Tigray. In reality, only 1420 trucks arrived, representing a
mere 5 percent of the required aid.