{"id":10080,"date":"2021-09-27T15:08:55","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T15:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.axumawian.com\/?p=10080"},"modified":"2021-09-27T15:08:55","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T15:08:55","slug":"ethiopias-tigray-crisis-why-are-hundreds-of-aid-trucks-stranded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/?p=10080","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia&#8217;s Tigray crisis: Why are hundreds of aid trucks stranded?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>With concern mounting about the food situation in Ethiopia&#8217;s Tigray region, there are conflicting claims about why supply trucks are stuck there, unable to transport further crucial supplies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Source: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/58681797\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BBC<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">September 27, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UN says hundreds of aid trucks which made the journey up to Tigray from other parts of Ethiopia between mid-July and mid-September have not returned.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve been looking into what&#8217;s holding up the flow of desperately needed aid.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s happened to the aid trucks?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The main mode of delivering aid into Tigray has been via road, through the Afar region.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/136.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10081\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">UN aid agencies estimate that 100 trucks with food, non-food items and fuel, need to enter Tigray every day.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the two months to 16 September, 466 trucks had entered Tigray through the Afar region, but only 38 had made the return journey, according to the UN.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Concerning. None of the 149 trucks in the convoy that reached <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Mekelle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Mekelle<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Ethiopia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Ethiopia<\/a> last week returned. Only 38 out of 466 trucks that entered <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Tigray?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Tigray<\/a> since 12 July returned. We need trucks to deliver lifesaving assistance to people in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Tigray?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Tigray<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OCHA_Ethiopia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@OCHA_Ethiopia<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WFP_Ethiopia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WFP_Ethiopia<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7SIPZpvItO\">pic.twitter.com\/7SIPZpvItO<\/a><\/p>&mdash; UN Ethiopia (@UNEthiopia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UNEthiopia\/status\/1438561313114951684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 16, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UNEthiopia\/status\/1438561313114951684\">View original tweet on Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;At the moment, this is the primary impediment to moving humanitarian aid into Tigray.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We are unable to assemble convoys of significant size due to lack of trucks,&#8221; a spokesperson for the World Food Programme said.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why aren&#8217;t trucks returning from Tigray?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve asked the UN where the trucks are, but they haven&#8217;t yet been able to provide clarification.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tigrayan forces fighting the Ethiopian government and its allies have laid the blame at the door of the Ethiopian government<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The truck drivers are provided with fuel that&#8217;s only [enough] for a one-way trip to Tigray. They are not provided [with] reserve fuel [to return] that is customary on such trips,&#8221; the Tigray People&#8217;s Liberation Front (TPLF) said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/137.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10082\"\/><figcaption><em>A woman in a queue for food in the Shire area of Tigray (Img Credit: Reuters)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also says truck drivers &#8211; many of them ethnic Tigrayans &#8211; complain of violence and intimidation during inspections at checkpoints manned by the Ethiopian military and local security officials outside Tigray.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It says they are not willing to go through these again to make the return journey.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are also restrictions on the amount of cash that can be carried, and with banking services suspended inside Tigray, there is no money available for them when they arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ethiopian government accepts that the failure of trucks to return from Tigray is hindering the supply of food aid.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Ethiopia&#8217;s Commissioner for National Disaster Risk Management, Mitiku Kassa, has rejected the suggestion that a shortage of fuel is stopping the trucks.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s also been suggested by government officials that trucks could have been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ETFactCheck\/status\/1438572094158168069\">seized by the TPLF<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far there&#8217;s no evidence of this, although Tigrayan forces did enter neighbouring areas in Afar in late July, through which the main supply route passes.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do we know about the fuel situation?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has made clear that the reasons cited by drivers not wanting to go back &#8220;are a lack of fuel to return, as well as drivers fearing for their security.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UN has for some weeks voiced concerns about the availability of fuel in Tigray, and has previously complained of fuel tankers being denied passage to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/138.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10083\"\/><figcaption><em>The Tigray region is facing serious food shortages (Img Credit: WFP)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Clearance for the movement of fuel tankers to transit to Tigray was reportedly denied by authorities in Afar region,&#8221; the UN said early this month.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A meeting of the UN and other aid agencies in late August also mentioned a lack of cash and fuel as among challenges affecting the return of trucks, noting that they were only allowed to carry enough fuel to get to their destination.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agencies said: &#8220;Due to this, the limitation of cash and the added difficulties in finding fuel,..&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/logcluster.org\/document\/ethiopia-meeting-minutes-semera-20-august-2021\">it is highly challenging for the trucks to return from [the Tigrayan capital] Mekelle.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UN estimates that 200,000 litres of fuel are needed each week, and says that since 12 July, only 300,000 litres have reached Tigray.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last fuel tanker entered Tigray on 29 July and available fuel stocks were exhausted on 17 September, the UN says.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nine tankers are stranded in Semera, the capital of the Afar region, as of 21 September, pending government approval to move into Tigray.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What about the security situation?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A humanitarian official in Tigray recently told AFP that many Tigrayan truck drivers had faced harassment at checkpoints outside their region.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UN has said: &#8220;Among the reasons cited by the drivers are\u2026 fear for their security as they were subjected to beating, harassment, intimidation and theft on the route from Semera to Mekelle.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UN reported in August an incident of harassment and abuse of one of its own missions to Tigray to assess the road transport situation,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/sites\/reliefweb.int\/files\/resources\/Situation%20Report%20-%20Ethiopia%20-%20Tigray%20Region%20Humanitarian%20Update%20-%202%20Sep%202021.pdf\">which it blamed on armed police in Afar region.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ethiopian government says it&#8217;s reduced checkpoints along this route into Tigray from seven to two, in order to improve the movement of aid.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Although this issue has been addressed to facilitate smooth flow, the number of trucks being dispatched by humanitarian actors has not [yet] increased,&#8221; said Billene Seyoum, the spokesperson for the Ethiopian Prime Minister&#8217;s office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With concern mounting about the food situation in Ethiopia&#8217;s Tigray region, there are conflicting claims about why supply<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23,32],"class_list":["post-10080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-bbc","tag-english"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1.jpg",976,549,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1.jpg",300,169,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1.jpg",640,360,false],"large":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1.jpg",640,360,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1.jpg",976,549,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1.jpg",976,549,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1.jpg",825,464,false],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1.jpg",590,332,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1.jpg",600,338,false],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/135-1-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"author_info":{"info":["Axumawian Media"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/?cat=2\" rel=\"category\">Article<\/a>","tag_info":"Article","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}