Expulsions: Ethiopia and UN trade accusations

By Agence de Presse Africaine Last updated Oct 12, 2021

APA-Addis Ababa The Ethiopian government and the United Nations have traded accusations over why seven UN workers were expelled from the country, APA can report on Monday. In a statement the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry maintained its allegation that the UN officials’ activities violate the organisation’s memorandum of agreement with Addis Ababa,…

APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The Ethiopian government and the United Nations have traded accusations over why seven UN workers were expelled from the country, APA can report on Monday.

Ethiopia blamed the UN officials in question for engaging in misconduct in the delivery of humanitarian assistance in the embattled Tigray region and providing support to the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

In a statement the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry maintained its allegation that the UN officials’ activities violate the organisation’s memorandum of agreement with Addis Ababa, which was signed in November 2020, and United Nations core principles of humanitarian assistance.

“The UN officials were engaged in activities ranging from diverting humanitarian assistance to the TPLF, which the Ethiopian parliament designated as a terrorist organization, to violating security arrangements and the transfer of communication devices for TPLF forces – which was meant to be used in its military activities,” the statement said.

Ethiopia also said it reached out to the relevant United Nations body regarding the supposed misconduct by its staff on the ground before finally deciding to expel them.

The UN Security Council recently discussed the expulsions in its extraordinary meeting where Ethiopian Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie laid out newly detailed claims about the officials.

He said the UN inflated the number of food aid needy people by one million, cheered the Tigrayan forces who are fighting the government, “invented” a dozen deaths in a camp for displaced people, and helped channel Ethiopian migrants from Saudi Arabia to another African nation “for training and preparation” to fight with the Tigrayans, were also among other accusations.

These serious violations have been brought to the attention of the relevant UN high officials and other international partners on multiple occasions, but nothing was done about them, the Ethiopian diplomat said.

A surprised UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres responded that he had known nothing of these allegations and that he had twice asked Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to send him details about any concerns about the impartiality of UN workers on the ground.

Taking a rare step by any UN secretary general to respond directly in the council chamber, Guterres accused Ethiopia of disregarding protocol.

He maintained that Addis Ababa had no right under the U.N. charter to expel the seven UN officials and challenged the Ethiopian ambassador to provide evidence about alleged wrongdoings by any one of them.

“It is my duty to defend the honor of the United Nations,” Guterres told reporters afterward.

He said if such evidence is provided, the U.N. will investigate why he wasn’t alerted about the matter.

The expulsions came as U.N criticism became increasingly strident about what it calls the Ethiopian government’s de facto blockade of the volatile Tigray region, where local forces have been fighting federal troops and their allies since November 2020.

Five of the officials expelled work with the U.N. humanitarian agency.

Another works with the U.N. human rights office while the seventh is with the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF.

Meanwhile Ethiopia has requested the U.N. to send new staffers to replace those it has expelled, professing its strong desire to work with the international community.

The UN council had taken no action over the request after an emergency closed-door session last Friday due to divisions among its members.

MG/as/APA