Earnest APPEAL to all concerned world citizens wherever they are across this planet

TADE, TDA House, 211Clapham Road, SW9 9AA
Tigrai Online 1/6/2024

Earnest APPEAL to all concerned world citizens wherever they are across this planet.

Ethiopia is known as the water tank of the Horn of Africa and has great agricultural potential but it remains underdeveloped, suffering from recurring man-made famine crises; thus cited as a sample of hunger & famine. The obvious aftermath, the most horrible ugly images of deaths, can be left for one’s imagination, if they have not seen the actual pictures.  However, the heartbreaking & shocking facts were not the aftermaths; but rather the contemporary leaders’ hypocrisy and futile attempts to conceal the horrible images of deaths, as one can see in the following four most recent anecdotes (putting aside that of the 19th century).  

In 1951 EC, when crop harvest failed due to drought in Northern Ethiopia, followed by famine in Tigray and the farmers failed to pay tax; Emperor H. Sillassie ordered the governor to command the farmers to sell their cattle and pay the due fief.  In the same year, however, to appease the Eritreans he paid the total annual tax from his personal/palace/ coffer. This was the time when he was purchasing Royce-Royce to raise the list of his hoarded cars in the palace.  A few years later /in 1953/ the Emperor nearly lost his throne (by nationalist elements, led by Gen. M. Neway) while enjoying a visit in Brazil.  By the way, a few years before this, the Emperor had donated £1000 to the UK to help the flood victims of 1947 in Britain.  

The 2nd one is whence the contemporaries of the 70’s students’ movements have witnessed this recurring fact with their own eyes, in their lifetime.  In 1973, Emperor H.Sillassie and his ministers dismissed & hid the famine of Tigray & Wollo that devoured over 250,000 victims. However, this hidden disaster was exposed thanks to Mr. Jonathan Dimbleby and eventually, Emperor H. Sillassie lost his throne and his own head as well as that of a many of his ministers' & officers' souls & heads.  

The 3rd one was in 1984 when Col. Mengistu H. Maria was celebrating his 10th year ascending to power, he tried to dismiss and hide the devastating famine, which was the aftermath of drought and civil war that affected 7.7 million victims.  However, thanks to a Kenyan cameraman Mohammed Amin & Michael Buerk that disaster was exposed and thwarted by “Live Aid” (thanks to Sir. Bob Geldof & the International Community). Subsequently, Col. Mengstu H. Maria lost his power, fleeing to Zimbabwe and all his lackeys were thrown into prison /all tried in a civil manner in which they killed thousands without trial/.

The 4th  repeated history in our time that shocked the whole political enlightened people of the whole world is what we heard from the Ethiopia Foreign Office on 30 Dec. 23 as exposed by a concerned journalist:  NAIROBI, KENYA — The Ethiopian government on Saturday dismissed warnings by the Tigray authorities that the war-ravaged region was on the brink of famine. Getachew Reda, the president of Tigray's interim administration, said on Friday (29/12/23) that 91% of the population was "exposed to the risk of starvation and death."

 In 1923, Prime Minister Col. A. Ahmed Ali / the 2019 Peace Prize winner/ tried to deny and dismiss the famine in Tigray, which was the aftermath of his own work of annihilating/genocidal war, and total siege in the last three years. During this period over 1,000, 000 people have been massacred, 2,500, 000 civilians displaced /internally/externally/, over 130,000 women have been purposely raped, and over 80% of the civil institution & infrastructure was been intentionally destroyed or plundered by the Ethiopian army & Eritrean savagely trained /sawa/ soldiers.

What makes the last recurring history so shockingly absurd and foolish attempts at denial is the fact that the exact facts /pictures of the famine are already in the public eyes of the International Community, thanks to the development of information technology.  Furthermore, what makes this denial so foolishly absurd is that there is no political entity on this world that does not know that PM Col A. Ali is the first super liar this planet has ever encountered. Furthermore, the whole world knows that he is the first leader ever who invited an enemy force to annihilate his own people; and bartered his own sovereign land to a neighbouring leader /Gen Burhan of Sudan/ to block all outlets for possible escapees; and deployed total siege & hunger as weapons of war. Furthermore, the political community of the world knows well that Col. A. Ali is the infantile & fascistic ‘leader’ this planet ever experienced who has no internal constituency, nor does he have any support even from his own family.Furthermore, as his close relatives & colleagues noted repeatedly when he was given a report of mass death of civilians by war /famine, he always showed no human instinct/basic biological reaction; but kept on making sneering remarks instead and jumped into making another order to duplicate that particular incident. As a result of this, his close circles whisper to outsiders, “Abiyi is the reincarnated Idi Amin Dada/ Nero when laughed at the burning of Roman City.

Furthermore, what makes this denial so absurd is that it is totally insane or defies logic by any measure.Biological discomfort is only felt by the particular person inflicted, as the saying goes ” One knows well where its shoe pinches!” In other words, when an emaciated /miserably impoverished person cries for bread/water/ out of hunger/thirst, a passerby (such as Dr, Legese Tulu, PP Press Officer) cannot say you are not hungry/thirsty! The emaciated poor could be an elderly person lying on a road whose head was slightly raised& by his a bit stronger relative (such as Getachew Reda), as the International media witnessed “Getachew Reda, president of the interim regional authority in Tigray, said more than 91% of the population was “exposed to the risk of starvation and death” and called for the Ethiopian government and international community to help”. (News Wiue, BBC, 30/12/23).

Furthermore, above all these, what does the document that bears the internationally recognized Pretoria agreement say?

(A)Article 1(9) -under the listed objectives states the responsibilities of the Ethiopian Government, says: “Facilitate economic recovery and rehabilitation”;

(B)(B Article 2 -under principles of permanent cessation of hostility says- (g) “Unhindered humanitarian access to all needed assistance”; 
(j) “Relief and reconstruction”

(C) Article 5 Humanitarian Access says: “The Government of EDFR (Prosperity Party/PP) shall expedites the provision of humanitarian aid in collaboration with international agencies taking into account the specific needs of the group vulnerable people including women, children elders, the parties shall cooperate to this effect.”

(D) The PP government failed the Seqkota declaration:( the epicentre of this declaration). In July 2015, the Government of Ethiopia renewed its commitment to nutrition when it unveiled the Seqkota Declaration – named after a town at the epicentre of the famine that claimed more than 700,000 Ethiopian lives in the 1980s. The declaration aims to “to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” to enhance development.

No need to mention the fact that, “The right to food is recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as part of the right to an adequate standard of living, and is enshrined in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It is also protected by regional treaties and national constitutions.”

In light of these facts, how can the International Community deal with this liar and fascistic leader who does not respect his own signature/agreement and to spare a few of the dying thousand famine Tigrians? May we humbly re-appeal & re-call upon: the Royal Air Force, Oxfam, Save Children USAID, Christian Aid, CRCS, Farm Africa, Water Aid, MSF, International Red Cross & Crescent, Survival International, Live Aid, Bob Geldof, Mike Buerk to air-drop the necessities to the starving and dying people of Tigray; as it was done in 1984, bypassing the then fascist government of Col. Mengistu. H. Mariam’s wolf-cry of sovereignty.

With great anticipation we /traumatized Diaspora/ remain.

Yours very truly,

The Tigrian Academic Diaspora in Europe,_ UK Branch. On behalf of thousands of the Tigrians on the verge of dying, in Northern Ethiopia.