BY LEULSEGED WORKU
New Year is not just about welcoming it and celebrating it warmly with our nearest and dearest ones. Rather, it is more than that and; its meaning goes beyond.
More than any other days, New Year symbolizes fresh beginnings, inspires hope and arouses motivation to do the better. It is also a time we just forget the darkest and the worst moments and we tend to believe that it is a new start. Owing to this and other reasons, hence, New Year has special meaning and greater impacts on people.
The Ethiopian year, 2014, is approaching its conclusion; only left with a few days to be replaced by the year, 2015.
In similar way, the Ethiopian New Year (Enkutatash) has a special place among Ethiopians. As the first day of the rest of the year, Enkutatash is celebrated colorfully among Ethiopians and the day has an exceptional meaning to those Ethiopian children who eagerly longing the day.
And, currently, Ethiopians are readying themselves to bid goodbye to 2014; and welcome 2015 optimistically, hoping the best.
However, for those poor ordinary Tigreans whose young children are snatched forcefully by the warmongering T-TPLF faction and used as cannon fodder, the oncoming New Year festival seems to be the day of panicky and uncertainty.
In fact, the outgoing year was one of the years that Ethiopians have gone through number of testing times; aside from the remarkable successes gained in various areas.
The year 2014 has seen relative peace for the reason several efforts have been made by the government to settle the conflict with T-TPLF in a peaceful manner and end up the sufferings of the people in Tigray. As a result, over the past four or five months, the people of Tigray had got some types of relief.
The move had also beamed ray of hope for those ordinary Tigreans though was not well appreciated by the TPLF leaderships who cannot elongate their existence without war,.
Genuinely speaking, starting from the first time, T-TPLF has been recruiting young helpless children- even as young as 14 years old – for war. By forcing parents to send their little children to join its insurgents, and forcing the children to act as human shields by directly engaging them in battle fields, they led thousands of children to be consumed in the war.
Ignoring international convention and the cry of Tigrian mothers T-TPLF has kept on recruiting little children for its mean purposes.
While the Ethiopian government is taking all the necessary steps for peace talks to resolve differences through the round table subsequently bring about peace and security across the country, the T-TPLF group was preparing itself for a massive attack by closing all the doors open to peace and recruiting child soldiers.
Obviously, Human rights law declares that 18 is the minimum legal age for recruitment and use of children in hostilities. Recruiting and using children under the age of 15 as soldiers is prohibited under international humanitarian law – treaty and custom – and is defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court.
However, in contrary to this, the terrorist group has kept recruiting child soldiers. Despite the continuous appeal from the Government of Ethiopian to the international community to stop TPLF from recruiting children for war, none of them have responded positively. This includes the Biden Administration and others.
Professor Alemayehu G/ Mariam, Political Science Scholar in California State University, on his recent tweet also highlighted the seriousness of the issue.
As it was indicated by the Professor, the Biden Administration is quiet as TPLF sends child soldiers and uses human waves/shields in its terrorist war on Ethiopia.
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations, Taye Atske Selassie also expressed his concern on this same matter. As he twitted, anyone who truly cares about children must condemn the recruitment and use of children in human wave strategy by terrorist TPLF.
The Ethiopian Government has not wavered from its commitment to peace. Declared ceasefire, allowed humanitarian access and offered olive branch. In response TPLF launched human wave attacks with child soldiers at front. International community and the Diaspora must stand with Ethiopia to stop the terrorists, Fitsum Arega Ambassador-Designate of Ethiopia to Canada, also accentuated.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 30 AUGUST 2022
