At least 50 Australians are stranded amid an escalating conflict in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region, prompting calls for the government to step in and evacuate its citizens.
The recent fighting between government forces and the leaders of the dissident region has seen hundreds reported killed and prompted thousands to flee the country.
More than 40,000 Ethiopians have fled to neighbouring Sudan as government forces pursue an offensive in the region, the UN’s refugee agency said on Monday.
But many more remain there, including at least 50 Australians.
Melbourne woman Mahtut Yaynu’s mother is stuck in Tigray. She says they haven’t spoken since the conflict began due to a communications blackout.
“It is really hard to articulate [how I’m feeling]. You have some days where it hits you what could possibly be happening to them,” she told SBS News.
Ms Yaynu says her Tigrayan community has collected the names of at least 50 Australians who they believe are stranded during the conflict.
“Some are in the process of leaving the conflict area but have been stuck in other regions. [That number] could be a lot higher than what we actually know,” she told SBS News.
Ms Yaynu says many Australians became stranded during the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring flight prices, with a ticket home from the capital costing up to $16,000.
“There’s a lot of fear within the community, especially for those who do have immediate family members that are stuck in this conflict region,” she said.
“So there’s a lot of fear in their minds about what’s going to happen to their family members. Are they going to see their children come back to Australia? Are they going to see their mothers or their fathers?”
The Tigrayan community in Australia is urging the government to organise an emergency evacuation of its citizens and step up pressure on the Ethiopian government for a ceasefire.
“We’re urging the Australian government to do as much as they can in helping the people of Tigray and helping the Australian citizens that are stuck in Tigray as well,” Ms Yaynu said.
In a statement to SBS News, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said it is “working with international agencies to assist Australians understood to be in Tigray, including for those who wish to return to Australia”.
The department has contacted the Ethiopian government “regarding the need to respect human rights, protect civilians and allow full access to humanitarian agencies to those impacted”, the spokesperson said.
It encouraged Australians in the Tigray region who are seeking to be evacuated or require emergency consular assistance to contact the embassy in Addis Ababa.
But after a meeting with DFAT officials on Tuesday, Ms Yaynu said community members in Australia are yet to receive any answers.
She said questions about an evacuation plan along with confirmation of the number of stranded Australians were taken on notice.
“We want them to confirm our numbers against theirs. This is us pushing them for information,” she said. “It’s quite disheartening.”
Fears of escalating conflict
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, launched the military campaign against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on 4 November, accusing it of attacking two federal military camps in the region, and of seeking to destabilise his government.
Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed, but the communications blackout has made claims from both sides difficult to verify.
There are now fears the fighting could intensify even further, after Tigrayan rebels rejected Mr Abiy’s 72-hour ultimatum to surrender ahead of a threatened “final assault” on Tigray’s capital, Mekele.
This has sparked concerns for the safety of civilians amid the blackout in the region, with the warring sides ruling out mediation and no humanitarian corridors in place.
Senior fellow from Atlantic Council’s Africa Centre, Cameron Hudson, said the violence is likely to escalate.
“We should think of these as two conventional fighting forces, with mechanised divisions, with missiles, with tanks. And so there’s no reason to believe that both sides see this as an existential threat,” Mr Hudson said.
“There’s no reason to believe that one side is going to blink before there has been substantial loss of life and substantial humanitarian fallout, and that’s what we need to be preparing for now and worried about.”
For Tigrayans in Australia who are waiting for answers, the conflict brings back painful memories from the region’s last civil war, which forced many to come to Australia.
“There’s trauma here, and now it’s generational trauma that is being packed down,” Ms Yaynu said.
“The youth here are finding it extremely difficult.”
With additional reporting by AFP.
