Date: 26 March 2022 Update

It is to be recalled that the Abiy regime announced, with great fanfare, what it called a “humanitarian truce” to facilitate the flow of aid to Tigray. Despite months of accumulated evidence to the contrary, the Government of Tigray expressed cautious optimism about this announcement, hoping that the people of Tigray would begin to receive the humanitarian assistance they need. It has now been 2 days since the announcement of this truce, but no aid has been allowed into Tigray yet.

Although we hope the authorities will break with tradition and honor their promises, we have not seen any encouraging signs that they are about to do so. In fact, the regime continues to peddle the fictious narrative that the Government of Tigray was blocking aid delivery to Tigray. Regime officials have made the baseless claim that because humanitarian convoy movement by land is limited due to the actions of Tigray forces, the regime has been facilitating aid delivery by air. Left unsaid are at least two things: first, the Abiy regime along with its local intermediaries in the Afar region has always been culpable for the obstruction of humanitarian aid delivery into Tigray by land; second, there was no additional food aid delivered by air. It should be noted that Tigray needs at least 700 truckloads of supplies a week.

If the regime were as studious about facilitating humanitarian access to Tigray as it is about spinning fallacious narratives, the humanitarian crisis in Tigray would not be as calamitous as it is now. We will continue to maintain faint faith that the authorities will live up to their end of the agreement. This faith is consistent with our principled stand to give peace a chance. For its part, the Government of Tigray remains committed to playing a constructive role in helping aid get to the millions of Tigrayans as well as people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance in neighboring regions.

Tigray External Affairs Office