EU Urges Ethiopian Gov't To Lift Transport Restrictions For Tigray Humanitarian Supplies

The Ethiopian authorities should promptly open all transport corridors for the humanitarian aid to reach the country's north, including the conflict-gripped Tigray region, Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Crisis Management in charge of European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2022) The Ethiopian authorities should promptly open all transport corridors for the humanitarian aid to reach the country's north, including the conflict-gripped Tigray region, Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Crisis Management in charge of European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, said on Thursday.

He welcomed the first delivery of medical supplies to Tigray by the International Committee of the Red Cross since September 2021, which took place on Wednesday.

"I call on the government of Ethiopia and others concerned to go much further without delay and fully open land and air access for humanitarian aid so as to reach all in need everywhere in northern Ethiopia," Lenarcic tweeted.

According to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs, the Semera-Abala-Mekelle corridor used to transport humanitarian aid to Tigray has been blocked since December 14, significantly decreasing the level of the humanitarian response to all those affected by heavy fighting between the government forces and rebels of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

The conflict prompted by an alleged TPLF attack on a government military base in November 2020 and followed by a government-backed offensive has plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis, claimed multiple lives, and displaced millions.