Tigray conflict has raged for over 10 months now and has spread to other neighboring regions in Ethiopia. A schism within the UN Security Council has continued to threaten Ethiopia’s future prospects.
The US and European nations firmly demand an end to the war in hope for a more peaceful future outlook. On the other hand however, India, China, and Russia remain skeptical on what ladders to climb concerning their involvement in what they view as a domestic dispute.
Its despicable that over the past 10 months, the Ethiopia’s war claimed over 400,000 lives and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes and communities. With the fighting now beyond Tigray and into the Amhara and Afar regions, a peaceful resolution remains a distant prospect and hard to tell when the logger heads will come together for negotiations.
Recently, the South Sudanese president H.E Salva Kiir made a state visit to Addis Ababa and met the Ethiopian Prime minister over security issues in the region. The two leaders held remarkable discussions whose results are yet to be seen. Similarly, Ugandan president H.E Yoweri Kaguta also hosted the Ethiopian prime minister and had similar discussions.
UN Security Council, an international body that is expected to bring about an end to the crisis is bitterly divided. The lack of consensus among the Council members should be a piece of bad news to all Ethiopians.
With existing divisions and the lack of consensus, these four are fundamental issues that unit the Security Council members ending the conflict, addressing the humanitarian catastrophe, maintaining the unity of Ethiopia, and avoiding regional instability.
US and the European nations has continued to demand for the end of hostilities, a negotiated ceasefire, and an all-inclusive national, political dialogue to chart a peaceful future for the country leveraging equality for all.
With all the political chaos manifesting in the country, both US and the European nations are apportioning blame on the federal government of Ethiopia for impeding humanitarian access to the Tigray region, for harassing humanitarian workers, and cutting off telecommunications, transportation, electricity, banking services, and other vital infrastructure.
Furthermore, they accuse the Tigrayan forces of unnecessarily taking the war to the Amhara and Afar regions and demand their withdrawal. They also ask the Eritrean troops to withdraw from Tigray, and the Amhara forces to pull out of the region’s western part.
On a separate note, China, India, and Russia advocate no interference in what they consider an internal Ethiopian matter.
Despite the three countries concern, they however advocate for an end to the conflict. According to the three countries, it should be left to Ethiopians themselves to resolve their differences.
They argue that outsiders should respect the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence.
This three countries China, India, and Russia advises the western powers also not to sanction the warring parties to force them to come to the table but instead, they advocate bilateral, behind closed doors diplomacy.
India has been particularly vocal in alleging that the Tigrayan forces are responsible for prolonging the conflict and blocking humanitarian aid.
The federal government of Ethiopia and supporters of the war are in a celebratory mood over the split within the Security Council. The bulk of the local media is ever grateful for China, India, and Russia. The numerous rallies held across the county are awash with placards admiring these three nations and vilifying the US and European countries.
The Tigray forces also hope the stance taken by the US and Europe will somehow put pressure on the federal government of Ethiopia. Their expectation can be discerned from the demands they issued as conditions for a ceasefire.
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