- Martijn van Helvert (CDA) during Tigray demonstrations in The Hague, The Netherlands
On November 4, 2020, war broke out in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. 100 days after the conflict, the situation seems far from under control. The conflict has resulted in a regional war and humanitarian crisis.
For example, a large part of Tigray is in the final stages of reaching the famine status, up to 20,000 recognized and protected Eritrean refugees have disappeared, according to the UN, and 80% -90% of health centers are not functional, so many people do not have access to care. . In addition, there are allegations of mass murders, torture and large-scale rape of women and girls.
As an international community, we cannot ignore this massive violation of human rights. That is why I asked our minister how we can tackle this from the Netherlands.
Question 1: What can you tell about the current situation in the Tigray region in Ethiopia? (1)
Question 2: Are you aware of the reports stating that mass murders, large-scale torture and rape of women and girls is taking place in the region?
Question 3: Is it true that the current situation is so dire that a large part of Tigray is in the final stage before a famine?
Question 4: Is it true that 20.000 Eritrean refugees who are recognized by the United Nations have disappeared from the face of the earth? Is it already somewhat clear what happened to them?
Question 5: Are you willing to - together with the international community - put pressure on the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments to advocate for a full and unimpeded humanitarian access as well as the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Eritrean and all other foreign forces from Tigray? If so, how are you going to do this? If not, why not?
Question 6: Has the option of the stationing of blue helmets in the conflict areas been discussed within the United Nations? And if not, is this a proposal that the Netherlands can push for?
Question 7: Are international forums working on establishing evidence-gathering mechanisms so that evidence of human rights violations in the Tigray region will not be lost? And if not, can you come up with this proposal?
Question 8: Are you prepared to advocate- in multilateral contexts such as the EU or the UN- for an independent investigation to investigate alleged war crimes committed by all parties involved?
1. Van 'geen doden' tot 'genocide': oorlog in Tigray is groot zwart gat | NOS
Source: https://www.cda.nl/vanhelvert/nieuws/sc ... ict-tigray