Hunger in besieged areas of Tigray is growing as authorities systematically block and confiscate needed remittances for millions of people. It's driving people to desperate measures.
Banking services and all communications have been cut off from the country by the Ethiopian government since last year, denying 6 million people access to their money.
In the absence of aid and banks, people relied mainly on money from family and friends abroad to survive, but restrictions on remittances have been imposed by the Tiglayan authorities, making it difficult to transfer money. There are enhanced actions against smugglers who bring in checkpoints.
Reports from within Tigray suggest that while many women and girls are forced to turn to the sex industry to survive, suicide is on the rise. .
Last week, EU and US envoys urged the Ethiopian government to quickly resume services and lift restrictions on fuel essential for aid distribution.
With the Ethiopian federal army he fought for nearly eight months When the Tigray rebels returned to power a year ago, Hewan* may have a better life. I thought no. She said diet has never been an issue for the 16-year-old and her family, who have had a good life.
"Hungry. My parents and brothers are hungry. For months we waited in vain for help. I did," she said Hewan.
"Foreign relatives used to send money to us through smugglers. No, we sold everything we had, we had nothing to eat in the house, so I went to the street to sell my body, what options do you have?
Like Hewan, many women and girls in Mekelle, Tigray's capital, engage in survival sex, including underage girls and women who once had promising careers.
Zufan* has a master's degree in project management and before the war she was 27 and had an established career with a good salary and plans to pursue a Ph.D. was These days, she sells her body to survive the hunger that took her parent's life.
``I saw my father die of malnutrition. He died in my hands. My mother is all bones. You don't need fuel to distribute aid within Mekelle, but there are people dying without getting the help they deserve, to save their lives and that of their mother after losing their father to starvation. Hunger doesn't give you time, I asked, but there's a lot of beggars. I have money in my account, but Tigre's banks have stopped giving money and have been cut off from the central federal system and emptied of cash.
Sex work is the only lifeline for many desperate Tigurian women who have exhausted all options. News spread through the city about a civil servant who committed suicide because he could not bear to see him begging.
Her 60-year-old Araya* was a landlord and lived on rental income from a house she owned, but she received rent from an unemployed tenant who had no money to pay him. could not be collected.
It was the money his children sent him through smugglers that sustained his life.
Based on negotiations with the sender, the smuggler takes his 30% to his 50% of the remittance and arranges for the remaining amount to be delivered to the recipient.
"Without remittances, I would have begged or starved to death. I am very concerned to learn that many smugglers have been put out of business. We have no other means of survival,” said Araya.
Smugglers are at border crossings with authorities to systematically restrict, block and confiscate transfers already outlawed by the Ethiopian government. By setting up a place, we are stopping those remittances.
``Trying to put money into a Tigray is frustrating and dangerous work to begin with. and by bribing officers, so that they receive up to 50% of the transfer, otherwise it would not be possible, and after passing many obstacles to reach Tigre A former smuggler who quit his job in May after being stopped at the border by Tigrayan officials, why take the risk if there is no guarantee from Tigray authorities that the cash will reach the starving people? Tsegay* of
Smugglers described harassment, criminalization, unpredictable limits on the amount of money they could bring into the Tigray, and confiscation of money for the hungry.
74} "It's a business for us, but it's about saving the lives of people who are dying of hunger. With millions of people dying of hunger, why are the authorities giving us such restrictions?" I don't know if it imposes .Previously the flow was smooth once we reached the Tigre border.But after April it became a nightmare.So my colleague and I left the company. ' said another former smuggler, Abadi*. "We need free access at least in Tigre otherwise it's not worth it. After all it's money for famine sufferers. It shouldn't be a hindrance. This is terrible."Some accused the Tigray authorities of confiscating money for them at checkpoints.
``They tried to deliver 73,000 birr (£1,147). The Tigre authorities took the money I was not given a justification by their officers Of course publicly they make many excuses But in reality they I'm setting up a post to make money at the expense of my dying family.I quit my job after that incident.There was no guarantee I would continue," said Berket*, another former smuggler. said.
The Civil Decree seen by the Guardians corroborates the testimony. The decree states that it is illegal to carry more than 100,000 birr and that cash flowing into the area must be reported to the border post. If anyone is found to be active outside of this, that person will be charged with committing a crime and the Tigre government will directly confiscate the money based on the decision of the commission set up for the task.
The Commission is chaired by Fetlework Gebregziabher, Vice President of the Tigre government. This decree has been signed and stamped by his Fetelework and has been in force since April.
A spokesperson for the Tigray government denied that the money had been confiscated and told The Guardian there was not enough cash in it to justify such restrictions.
"We would rather encourage cash inflows wherever possible, but illegal activity should be regulated," he said.
* Indicates that the name was changed.