It has been almost two months since the Ethiopian Government declared war in Tigray. This war has been accompanied with the total communication blackout and closure of the region from the basic services like food, telephone, electricity, medicine, banks, internet, etc. 1/
The Irob district that is inhabited by the Irob people & located in the north east of the Tigray Regional State, bordering Eritrea, is believed to be one of the worst victims of the ongoing war. 3/
In addition to being one of the remote areas of Tigray Regional State,the Irob was under siege due tothe military standoff between Ethiopia and Eritrea for more than two decades. And this year,before the current war, it has been already ravaged by locust and Coved-19 pandemic.4/
IAA Diaspora Secretariat has credible information that the Irob people are displaced & starving to death in the mountains & the district including the local gov admin offices is currently occupied by the Eritrean Forces with the Eritrean flag installed in the district areas. 5/
There're credible reports that a number of civilians were killed, priests & civilians were abducted, public & private properties including schools & health centers looted, stored grains from residential homes & the clergy stores were raided & taken away by the Eritrean Forces. 6/
It is to be recalled that Eritrean Forces abducted over 97 Irob civilians during Ethio-Eritrean war about two decades ago and their whereabouts is not known to-date.7/
We are extremely alarmed by these reports and concerned that many people might have also been starved to death already as the people in the area were dependent on safety-net programs that were suspended by the Ethiopian Government a few months ahead of the ongoing war. 8/
The Irob district is little known & the current grave situation of the Irob people is not getting the attention the situation warrantees from the inte'l community.The Irob people are a minority ethnic group in the region & don’t have a voice regardless of their dire situations.9/
IAA Diaspora Secretariat is gravely concerned that this trend is continuing during the ongoing war & humanitarian disaster while Ethiopian Gov is trying to project a different picture regarding the current situation in Tigray Region & scope of the crisis to the inte'l comm.10/
Just last week, 3 weeks after the Ethiopian Gov announced that the war in Tigray was over, unconfirmed sources claimed that there was war going on in the Irob district, allegedly between the Tigray and the Eritrean Forces. 11/
As the international community may be already aware, neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea are admitting the Eritrea’s involvement in current war inside Tigray. 12/
However, Eritrean Forces being indeed inside all over Tigray and fighting alongside the Ethiopian Government Forces is acknowledged by the US State Department and reported by the international media such as Reuters, the Gradian, etc. 13/
These medias also reported, using diplomatic sources and eyewitnesses, that the Eritrean Forces are engaged in frequent raids of civilian homes, mass lootings of the public and private properties, and the barbaric killings of the civilians in Tigray. 14/
You can only imagine much worse situation in the remote areas of Tigray like the Irob district. The limited reliable reports we have and mentioned above attest to the grave concerns we have. 15/
The most alarming is that the occupation of Irob by Eritrean Forces may not be temporary as the Ethiopian PM admitted to the UN Secretary General that ''Eritrea is occupying only disputed territory btw the two countries that in the peace agreement was decided to give them'' 16/
With the recent restoration of some communication in Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray Region, the Ethiopian govt.officials & media are claiming the return of the region to the normalcy. It's important to note that this claim is far from the truth.Tigray is not just Mekelle! 17/
Most parts of Tigray & millions are still in total darkness with no basic needs such as food, water,electricity,health& bank services for almost two months.And this is happening with the complete communications blackout, and with no humanitarian aid & independent media access.18/
We fear that the remote areas will continue to suffer longer & concerned that it will be too late by the time those services will be restored if they will be at all & the occupation of Irob by Eritrea makes the Irob situation even more complicated within the Tigray context.19/
Therefore, IAA Diaspora Secretariat's urgent plea:👇 
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