Dashed hopes and limited aid trouble Tigrayans a year after Ethiopia truce

Many Tigrayans say they can’t return home despite the ceasefire because forces allied with the federal government still occupy parts of the region. At its peak in July 2021, Wekeynos joined the Tigrayan side as an infantryman after it recaptured Mekelle from Ethiopian forces. According to the aid worker, some of the starving IDPs are now resorting to pickpocketing and burglaries in surrounding urban areas. “Another factor is that IDPs in Tigray are competing for limited aid supplies with IDPs in other parts of Ethiopia, the Sudan crisis and most recently the Israel-Gaza conflict,” the aid worker said. … We’ve been told that currently, it’s the federal police and Ethiopian army personnel that are in control of western Tigray.