Over 1,300 displaced people have died of hunger in Ethiopia’s volatile Tigray region, a local official said

More than 1,300 people have died from hunger in displacement camps in Ethiopia’s volatile Tigray region over the past three years, a local official told AFP on Monday.

A brutal civil war between Ethiopia’s federal government and forces from the northern Tigray region between 2020 and 2022 left at least 600,000 people dead, according to African Union estimates. Around one million people remain displaced in camps.

“For the past three years, 1,309 people have died due to hunger and lack of medicine in internally displaced persons camps across Tigray,” said Gebreselassie Tareke, a director at the region’s Social Affairs Office.

He warned that conditions are deteriorating, citing a sharp drop in aid. “We are not receiving enough support from the federal government, and international NGOs are also reducing their assistance,” he said.

Funding from Addis Ababa was cut off several months ago amid rising political tensions, further worsening the humanitarian crisis. One of the worst-affected camps alone shelters around 150,000 people, with many at risk.

Fighting has also flared again in recent months, with Ethiopian troops and Tigrayan forces clashing in November and January, raising fears of renewed conflict.

Federal authorities have accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of strengthening ties with Eritrea, at a time when tensions are escalating between the two neighbours. Eritrea, in turn, has accused landlocked Ethiopia of planning to seize its Red Sea port of Assab, with troops massing along their shared border for weeks.

Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged all sides to take urgent steps to de-escalate the situation “before it is too late.”