'Humanitarian Crisis in Tigray Worse Than Ukraine': WHO Chief Ghebreyesus

"Maybe the reason is the colour of the skin of the people in Tigray," the WHO chief added.

The head of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday, 18 August, reiterated that racism may be driving the lack of international interest in the ongoing war in Ethiopia.

“I haven’t heard in the last few months any head of state talking about the Tigray situation anywhere in the developed world. Anywhere. Why?...Maybe the reason is the colour of the skin of the people in Tigray."

WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

The civil war that broke out in the region in November 2020 has triggered an unimaginable humanitarian crisis, with fighting between Tigrayan forces against federal Ethiopian forces still ongoing.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is an ethnic Tigrayan, added that the situation caused by the conflict in his home country was worse than any other humanitarian crisis in the world, including Ukraine.

"The humanitarian crisis in Tigray is worse than Ukraine," he started his statement as saying.

Ghebreyesus said the people of Tigray had no access to medicine and telecommunications and were prevented from leaving the region. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross in recent months has reported shipments of some medications.

The resumption of basic services and banking remains a key demand of the Tigray regional leaders.

“Nowhere in the world you would see this level of cruelty, where it’s a government (that) punishes 6 million of its people for more than 21 months. The only thing we ask is: ‘Can the world come back to its senses and uphold humanity?’”

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

He described the Ukraine conflict as a crisis that had the global community potentially “sleepwalking into a nuclear war” that could be “the mother of all problems,” but argued that the disaster in Tigray was far worse.

In April, Ghebreyesus had asked if "the world really gives equal attention to black and white lives" since the ongoing crises in Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan received only a "fraction" of the concern for the war in Ukraine.

Ethiopian Govt Criticises Ghebreyesus' Statement

The Ethiopian government has criticised Ghebreyesus' statement and called it unethical.

The spokeswoman for Ethiopia's prime minister on Thursday, 18 August, told journalists that the comments by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus were unbecoming of such a high-profile position, reported AP. Billene Seyoum suggested that Tedros, himself an ethnic Tigrayan, should recuse himself from his post if he wishes to talk in this manner.

Very little humanitarian aid was reportedly allowed into Tigray after their forces retook much of the region in June 2021.

Although more aid has flowed in over the past few months amid international mediation efforts, it is still considered less than enough to meet the needs of the millions of people in the region.

Seyoum, the prime minister's spokeswoman, accused the Tigray leaders of looking for excuses to avoid peace talks, and dismissed Tigray forces' allegations of new attacks by Ethiopian forces as a mechanism to deflect discussions on the peace process, AP reported.