Ethiopia’s Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has issued an urgent appeal to the international community, decrying what it called a “silent genocide” in the region and demanding the full implementation of the Pretoria peace agreement.
The statement, issued this week, was prompted by the death of a one-year-and-four-month-old child, Naod Hailesselassie, who the TPLF said was “devoured by a hyena at an IDP camp in Mekelle.”
“This unspeakable tragedy reflects the daily torment of thousands displaced from Western Tigray—struggling to survive without food, medicine, shelter, security, or dignity,” the TPLF said in its weekly statement.
The Pretoria Agreement, signed nearly three years ago, promised peace, the return of displaced persons, and the withdrawal of occupying forces. However, the TPLF said the Ethiopian government has failed to honour these commitments, with most provisions remaining unimplemented.
“For five years, hundreds of thousands have perished in IDP camps from hunger, disease, exposure, and lack of protection. This is not misfortune—it is systematic neglect, carried out under the guise of ‘peace’,” the statement read.
The TPLF demanded the “immediate removal of occupying forces and the ending of the suffering of our people under occupation, and the safe return of IDPs.”
TPLF condemns agreement’s guarantors inaction
The group also condemned the “inaction” of the agreement’s guarantors—the United States, the European Union, the African Union, and the United Nations—who, it said, “despite repeated appeals and overwhelming evidence of atrocity, have allowed this silent genocide to unfold unchecked.”
“We appeal to the international community: act now. Do not allow Tigray’s destruction to continue in silence. Honor your commitment to peace, protect the innocent, and prevent another unheeded tragedy,” the Tigray People’s Liberation Front concluded.
