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President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has called on the United Nations Security Council to act on Tigray.

- President Kagame said that the situation in Tigray was very concerning, and the number of deaths reported was too high to let Ethiopia and the African Union handle the situation alone.

- President Kagame named the following reasons why the UN should intervene in Tigray.

- the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray turns the conflict into an international and civil one.

- Two refugee camps have been destroyed and between 15 and 20 thousands Eritrean refugees in Tigray have gone missing. Eritrean troops have been implicated in these crimes. This gives the UNSC the right to act on the issue.

- Tigray is being confronted with a potential famine, where 2.3 million people need urgent access to supplies. Ethiopian troops are making access difficult and restricting access to water and aid, including that of the UN.

- More than 2 million people are now internally displaced. This is putting a further strain on other crises such as the locust infestation and Covid-19. There is high food insecurity, and the reticence of the Ethiopian government to ask for help will lead to a disastrous situation in Tigray.

- the UN and other organisations are reporting serious violations of the Geneva Conventions and other International Humanitarian Law. Some reports are also suggesting acts that could constitute ethnic cleansing.

- Ethiopia is entirely focused on its fight in Tigray, leading to the weakening of regional stability as Ethiopia retreats from its peacekeeping obligations. It has withdrawn soldiers from Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. Furthermore recent months have seen increasing tensions between Somalia and Kenya, and around the GERD dam.

- Sudan itself is in the middle of a precarious political transition which could be destabilized. This is creating a dangerously unstable situation that terrorist organisations such as Al Shabaab could exploit.

- The President concluded that when a state is not able to stop atrocities on its territory, such as genocide, the UN has a duty to intervene

Source: https://www.eepa.be//wp-content/uploads ... y-2021.pdf