Twenty months after the end of the war, Tigray, in northern Ethiopia, is still facing immense challenges. The conflict pitted the Tigrayans against the Ethiopian central government, allied with neighboring Eritrea and other regions such as Amhara. Today, the region is bled dry. The Tigrayan government has even declared a famine. In such a context, part of the population has fallen into total poverty and since the end of the war, the number of beggars has exploded. Illustration in Mekele, the Tigrayan capital.
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With our special correspondent in Mekele, Sebastien Nemeth
” In the name of the Virgin, in the name of the Virgin “, repeats Méles. Crouching in front of a church, the man begs with his wife and their five children. This farmer from Abi Adi, 100 kilometers away, is frighteningly thin. It was the war that threw him into the street. ” I had three cows, but they were all killed by the armyhe says. Our house was destroyed, there is nothing left. So I have to beg. Sometimes we manage to feed the children, sometimes we don’t. I am quite sad to live like this. But I can’t go back and farm. I don’t have enough strength anymore because of the lack of food. “.
Beggars are swarming in the capital. At over 70, Meseletch Weldekiran is reduced to begging restaurant customers. I go door to door asking for foodshe explains. I dry it and take it back to my village. Since the war, everyone’s situation has gotten worse. Fortunately, here, a rich man lends me a small place to spend the night. “.
” We see beggars everywhere »
In a restaurant in the city, Ashema Figetat packs up the leftovers from her lunch to give to the needy. A generous gesture in a context that touches her deeply. There are so manyhe sighs. We see them everywhere. It’s sad especially when they are children, when they should be in school. I wonder what will become of the next generation. We live in difficult times “.
The Tigrayan authorities do not have the means to deal with this social crisis. Nearly two years after the war, Tigrayans are still fighting to survive.
The Tigray war, from 2020 to 2022, could have caused up to 600,000 deaths according to the African Union, not to mention a very large amount of looting and destruction.
Read alsoRFI Special Report – Ethiopia, a look back at the forgotten war in Tigray