UN
\nThe last UN staff member detained by the Ethiopian government has been released, ending a months-long effort to gain freedom for at least 16 UN employees picked up since late October during the ongoing war in the country\u2019s north, the United Nations said Friday.
\nUN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said two others were freed \u201cin the past few days.\u201d All three were Ethiopian nationals.
\nThe UN announced on Nov. 9 that at least 16 of its local employees had been detained in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and a government spokesman asserted they were held for their \u201cparticipation in terror\u201d under a state of emergency.
\nAt about the same time, Ethiopian authorities arrested and detained some 70 truck drivers contracted to the United Nations and other groups to deliver humanitarian aid. The UN announced on Nov. 18 that they had all been released.
\nDujarric said Friday the United Nations repeatedly raised the issue of the detained UN staffers, and \u201chad never really gotten any clarity as to why they were detained in the first place.\u201d
\n\u201cBut at this point, we\u2019re just really, really glad that they are released,\u201d he said.
\nAccording to the UN, the first arrest was on Oct. 31, 2021, with the majority of arrests taking place in November although there were arrests in December and January as well. The first releases came in mid-November.
\nUN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who returned from Ethiopia last week, said she raised the issue of the last three staffers still being held during meetings with the country\u2019s leaders.
\nThe arrests strained relations between the United Nations and the Ethiopian government.
\n\u201cI think we have been stunned by the response that we have had from the Ethiopian government but I do think that it\u2019s on the mend.\u201d Mohammed told reporters last week. \u201cThe perceptions from the Ethiopian people that we cannot be trusted, must be corrected and the leaders in Ethiopia have to start to help us do that.\u201d
\nThe deputy secretary-general said she thinks her visit helped show that the UN is remaining in the country and is \u201cloyal to our commitment in supporting the people of Ethiopia.\u201d
\nMonths of political tensions between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed\u2019s government and leaders in northern Tigray who once dominated Ethiopia\u2019s government exploded into war in November 2020.
\nFollowing some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict, Ethiopia soldiers fled the Tigray capital, Mekele, in June 2021, and the government declared a national state of emergency with sweeping powers. A drone-assisted government military offensive halted the Tigrayans\u2019 approach to Ethiopia\u2019s capital., Addis Ababa. In December, the Tigrayans retreated back to Tigray.
\nThe war is believed to have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of millions.
\nAlthough the conflict has subsided in several places, notably within the Tigray and neighboring Amhara regions, and lawmakers voted earlier this week to lift the state of emergency, concerns remain about fighting in the northeastern Afar region.
\nDujarric told reporters the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reported Friday that they are working with the Ethiopian authorities and partners to provide emergency aid to thousands of Eritrean refugees who fled a refugee camp in the Afar region due to fighting.
\n\u201cRefugees who trekked the long distance to the regional capital in Semera told UNHCR that armed men stole their belongings and occupied their homes,\u201d he said. \u201cAccording to their testimonies, at least five refugees were killed and several women were kidnapped.\u201d
\nDujarric said that UNHCR remains worried about the safety and well-being of thousands of Eritrean refugees caught up in the conflict, \u201cwith yet another refugee camp severely impacted.\u201d
\nOn the humanitarian front, aid for millions in the Tigray region remains severely limited under what the UN has described as a \u201cde facto humanitarian blockade.\u201d
\nOn Monday, the World Health Organization said it has been granted access to send medical supplies to Tigray for the first time in six months, but said fuel shortages were hampering its distribution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UN The last UN staff member detained by the Ethiopian government has been released, ending a months-long effort to gain freedom for at least 16 UN employees picked up since late October during the ongoing war in the country\u2019s north, the United Nations said Friday. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said two others were freed \u201cin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-245467","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n