United Nations Secretary-General Guterres does not accept Ethiopia’s plans to expel seven UN humanitarian workers. On Thursday, the seven were labeled undesirables. They had to leave the country within 72 hours.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave the reason for the expulsion that the employees were meddling in internal political affairs, but the United Nations says there is no evidence of this. Yesterday, the accusation was added that the UN is supplying relief supplies to the rebels in the Tigray region, against whom Ethiopia is fighting.
Guterres told the UN Security Council that the United Nations continues to put pressure on Ethiopia so that the seven employees can continue to work.
According to a UN spokesperson, the seven are still in Ethiopia and Ethiopia cannot legally declare UN staff personae non gratae at all. “That is something between one state and another. But we are not a state.
firm measures
It is not expected that firm measures against Ethiopia will follow if the UN’s have to leave the country for good.
At a Security Council meeting, the United States, the United Kingdom and France, among others, expressed their concern about the situation, but China and Russia have already said they see the conflict in Tigray as a domestic matter for Ethiopia.
“We need more information about this case,” the Chinese UN delegation told Reuters news agency. “We call on the UN and Ethiopia to resolve this issue together and we ask the two sides to work together.”
Famine
The United Nations has announced an unprecedented famine in the Tigray region caused by the struggle between the rebels and the Ethiopian government army. A senior UN official warned on Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from food shortages.
The UN believes that Ethiopia is deliberately blocking access to Tigray and using food as a weapon. Ethiopia has vehemently denied this in the past.
–
