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submitted 1 year ago by livus@kbin.social to c/worldnews@kbin.social

Local officials and researchers say hunger has killed at least 700 people in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region in recent weeks after the United States and United Nations suspended food aid.

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[-] DessertStorms@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

I wish we could donate directly to the people in need rather than to the corrupt government or the large humanitarian organisations willing to play along with that corruption.

[-] Drusas@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

These governments stopped sending food aid because of local corruption, not their own corruption. The food was being stolen and sold for profit instead of going to those who are starving.

[-] DessertStorms@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Yes, local government corruption, who are diverting (stealing) the aid to the military or to market to be sold for massive profit, rather than to the civilians who need it.

[-] livus@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Worth noting the US had other sanctions against Ethiopia in place but is easing some non-food restrictions.

[-] livus@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

It's been very hard in the Tigray situation because the national government isn't all that invested in aid to Tigray and at one point Ethiopian and Eritrean forces were actively stopping it.

[-] DessertStorms@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Yup, that's what I meant (I guess I wasn't clear which government I was talking about, and it was the Ethiopian one, though to be fair, it's all governments involved that are to blame, since none of them are actually acting to stop the violence and suffering, only to apply ban-aid solutions to it, at best, or find ways to make money from the situation at worst).

[-] livus@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

If you're talking about a boots on the ground peacekeeping intervention in the Ethiopian war and its aftermath, I agree with you but I don't think the UN would get much support for that even now.

The US has been sanctioning the Ethiopian government over its human rights abuses in Tigray.

Halting food aid to the rest of Ethiopia has been one of the measures taken in response to aid being diverted, and as we can see it seems to have increased deaths.

[-] DessertStorms@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

I did mean that, but in my mind was going even further back, because of course this crisis isn't the first in the region and it won't be the last, especially as long as the west continue to withhold support (or only provide it to the bodies they know will not distribute it fairly, which I don't doubt they knew was the case long before they decided to sanction).

The more you look in to these things, the worse it gets really.

this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2023
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