“Give us your kids to fight. We are taking them. Give us your grains. Those who have goats, give us your goats. Whether we wanted to or not, we had to leave. We got up and left our homes.”
The above testimony was from a Tigrayan mother who has been suffering under TPLF rule. In her recent tweet, Journalist Hermela Aregawi, revealed a video that showcased an exclusive testimony from mothers in Tigray that have been suffering under TPLF’s occupation.
These mothers, who have been the victims of the war started by the terrorist TPLF and somehow been rendered voiceless, fled their homes after TPLF was demanding their kids, food, cattle, money and even arresting them.
The Tigrayan woman went on saying that, they were fining them with severe punishment and said, if they don’t have the money, they would put them into jail.
She said: “They tell us they will help us but the people are dying of hunger. That is why the people are dying of hunger. They are always saying ‘give us’ but never ‘take this’.”
Another woman also revealed that, they (TPLF) have gathered the women in a meeting and used to force them to provide a person to fight without their will. “They come to take from poor people”, she uttered.
According to the Journalist, while the western media has been the voice of TPLF, these mothers have been suffering under the pressure of the TPLF for it demands their kids to fight and to provide food forcibly. For this and other reasons, most of the children and their families have been exposed to starvation and others have fled their home fearing TPLF militias.
In the same manner, the American- Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC) revealed findings from displaced Tigrayan referring to Ann Fitz-Gerald, who is the Director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs and a Professor in Wilfred Laurier University’s Political Science Department’s ground breaking report entitled: ‘The Frontline Voices’.
The discoveries indicated that, the TPLF enacted a strict ‘one family, one fighter rule’ which forced all families to contribute at least one fighter as required.
As to AEPAC, all interviewed fighters claimed to have been recruited by force including those under the age of 18.
Regarding the experience of the Tigrayan fighters, who joined the TPLF without their will but for the sake of protecting their families, the report showed that one female fighter justified her decision to sacrifice her interest for the sake of protecting her brother, who required medical treatment.
Another respondent who had young children also described how the Special Forces had been waiting for him at his workplace following expressing his preference not to join the force due to the need to take care of his young children and his ill wife. When he tried to run away from the paramilitary members, he was shot and had no option but to hand himself over and joins the TPLF militias.
One female fighter aged 17, recalled seeking shelter in a town called Habru, between Woldiya (Amhara) and Chifra (Afar). Hiding with four other young female fighters and having been offered accommodation by a local Amhara family, the fighter decided to hand-over herself to the ENDF, which had reoccupied Dessie and Kombolcha by that time.
She explained how after she told the ENDF soldier about her friends – who were naturally frightened about repercussions – they were all escorted to safety in War Ilo, given food, water, medical treatment, and sanitary provisions, before being brought to the Awash Basin center.
Aid entering Tigray is strictly controlled by the TPLF. Little aid reaches families who are unable to contribute fighters, it was stated.
Moreover, 83 percent of respondents said they wanted to leave Tigray because of TPLF rule and 71 percent identified the TPLF-caused hunger as the primary reason to leave as many had not had a proper meal in weeks. Similarly, respondents included the elderly, whose children had either left Tigray or no longer lived with them and who therefore had no fighter to contribute to the cause.
On the other side, women among the group also argued that, they felt compelled to flee as their sons were living in Addis Ababa, and they were living with the threat of imprisonment if their sons did not return to Tigray to join the fighting force.
According to the report, all respondents in the Jarra and Awash camps confirmed that there must be peace and that their own desire was to have “one Ethiopia” and to live peacefully with their “brothers and sisters” of other ethnicities and regional states.
Many of the respondents also cited different parts of the country, including Addis Ababa, where they had relatives and wanted to continue visiting regularly in the future. Within the sample set of Tigrayans interviewed in both camps, there is a clear sign of a widened divide between the common people of Tigray and the TPLF leaders.
The report stated that, the strong consensus that the TPLF’s ideology, network, and governance system must be eradicated is also an indication of a lack of interest in its radical agenda and a high-level of resentment towards what has been described as a small group of leaders accumulating both power and wealth.
In contrast, there is considerable evidence of support for a united Ethiopia and a newly reformed constitution that does not facilitate continuity of the current TPLF ideology and governance arrangements, including the repressive “one in five” network.
The feedback from these camps also provides evidence that the narrative echoed by TPLF supporters living outside of Ethiopia does not align with the voice of the Tigrayan communities on the ground.
There are also issues concerning the safety and security of approximately 16,000 Tigrayans (a number that continues to grow as more IDPs cross into Amhara and Afar) currently being housed at both the Awash and Jarra camp locations as well as implications for national and international aid agencies to ensure that the nutrition, water and medical requirements of these IDPs are supported and not forgotten.
BY BETELHEM BEDLU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 5 MAY 2022
