Make a strong case for Asylum that returning to country of origin would be to be Prosecuted and possible killed.
Make it personalized to feel the writer the pain of Abel
This needs to be personalized for Asylum claim regarding Tigray Genocide. Re-write the following by personalized towards Abel’s face based on race, religion, nationality, he was harassed, and his family has been too. His family main income has been closed. https://www.state.gov/atrocities-in-ethiopias-tigray-region/
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/hundreds-tigrayans-detained-ethiopian-capital-recent-weeks-witnesses-say-2021-07-15/ Tigrayans in Addis Ababa being detailed, disappeared and businesses being closed.
The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development expressed concern Wednesday about the “dehumanizing rhetoric” used by Ethiopia’s leaders amid the nine-month conflict in the Tigray region, whose forces last month were described as “weeds” and “cancer” by the country’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister, Abiy Ahmed (Anna, 2021). Multiple influential figures from religious leaders to regional government presidents have gone across media to convey direct and indirect messages of brutal hate speech towards ethnic Tigrayans across the country.
Since Abiy took office, Tigrayan leaders have complained of being unfairly targeted in corruption prosecutions, removed from top positions, and broadly scapegoated for the country’s woes (Al Jazeera). This goes against the UDHCR Article 7, Article 9, Article 13, and Article 17 violation because it contradicts in ways such as profiling Tigrayans discriminately by authorities, relinquish the right to equal protection of the law by practicing arbitrary arrest, prohibiting the right to leave country and arbitrarily depriving the right to own property.
They report being detained without charges, put under house arrest, and barred from traveling outside the country. Tigrayans, say they have had their businesses shut down, homes ransacked, and money extorted by security officials (Marks and Dahir). International law prohibits discrimination, unjustified interference with the right to privacy, degrading treatment, and violations of the right to physical integrity (“Ethiopia: Protect People as Tigray Crisis Escalates”). An all-out war between the federal government and the state of Tigray is believed to have begun by blaming the Tigrayan forces for attacking the Ethiopian military base stationed around the Tigray region.
Following the alleged attack on the federal military base, phone and internet communications were swiftly cut in the region, and the federal government soon after announced a round of airstrikes in areas around the regional capital, Mekelle Six humanitarian agencies reported that the movement restrictions and the communication shutdown were significantly hampering their activities, including tending to those wounded and killed in the fighting.
Humanitarian reports on the situation in Tigray also highlight that the closure of banks and restrictions on essential goods such as food, water, fuel, electricity, and medical supplies risk compounding the suffering of a population already in need. Under international human rights law, the Ethiopian government bears the primary responsibility to meet the needs of people on its territory (“Ethiopia: Protect People as Tigray Crisis Escalates”).
The enraged diaspora community could not know if their family members are alive or dead. A large group of Tigrayan migrants preferred migrating to Sudan instead of their neighboring Eritrea and Amhara region due to the largely existing hostile and resentful attitudes.
While the vulnerable group in the north have been isolated in terms of media communication and human-caused disasters, the decision to abandon the remains of their homeland seemed reasonable. Since November, an estimated 60,000 refugees have crossed the border to escape violence. The World Food Programme (WFP) is playing a critical role in providing life-saving food and nutrition support in Um Rakuba (“Sudan: Tigray Refugees Settle in but Worry about Missing Relatives).
And for those who have not left their home in Tigray, they are continually subjected to harsh treatment by the military forces governing them like the large reports of constant threat of rape and cruel sexual violence by the members of the Ethiopian government soldiers, Amhara militia or Eritrean soldiers. The UDHCR Article 1 and Article 5 are violated in this case because sexual violence is a cruel, undignified, and degrading treatment. It is an unreasonable and infuriating to be supportive and conclude that such atrocities are justifiable because it is a tactic of war used to humiliate and instill fear upon the members of the ethnic group.
There are disturbing reports of individuals allegedly forced to rape members of their own family, under threats of imminent violence. Some women have also reportedly been forced by military elements to have sex in exchange for basic commodities, while medical centers have indicated an increase in the demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which is often an indicator of sexual violence in conflict. In addition, there are increasing reports of sexual violence against women and girls in a number of refugee camps (Ochab).
The war crimes keep on pilling up because the ethnic group of Tigray are systematically enduring economic crisis, murder, imprisonment, sexual violence and genocide in the name of apprehending government bodies for attacking their military base. According to Amnesty,
International humanitarian law (the laws of war) prohibits deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks, and pillage (looting). Violations of these rules constitute war crimes. “The evidence is compelling and points to a chilling conclusion. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops carried out multiple war crimes in their offensive to take control of Axum. Above and beyond that, Eritrean troops went on a rampage and systematically killed hundreds of civilians in cold blood, which appears to constitute crimes against humanity,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa .
From diasporas urging foreign companies to boycott government product and NGO’s requesting for entrance to conduct private investigation, the international community have been responding and been urged to respond to the atrocities with full support in addition to facing mobility hardship. NGO leader Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said: “I have rarely seen a humanitarian response so impeded and unable to deliver.”(Parker).
We repeat our call on the Ethiopian government to grant full and unimpeded access across Tigray for humanitarian, human rights, and media organizations (“Eritrean Troops Massacre Hundreds of Civilians in Axum, Ethiopia.”).
Even though the Ethiopian government have been curbing access and stalling relief for Tigray, president Debretsion for the State of Tigray has been able to uplift and inform the harassed community while hidden.
After seizing control of Tigray’s main cities in late November, Abiy declared victory and maintained that no civilians were harmed in the offensive.
“They are killing our people in this country, they are killing children, all ages of the population and they are conducting rape,” Debretsion told CNN in a phone interview from an undisclosed location. “All sorts of acts of genocide have been committed in Tigray. So, the most important thing is that an investigation must be conducted,” he added. (Arvanitidis).
Anna, C. (2021, August 4). US warns ETHIOPIA OF ‘DEHUMANIZING RHETORIC’ on Tigray. AP NEWS. Retrieved September 12, 2021, from https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-africa-ethiopia-b2084e1fac5444df00585b8f9ab561a0.
Al Jazeera. “Ethiopian Parliament Votes to Cut Ties with Tigray Region Leaders.” Ethiopia News | Al Jazeera, 7 Oct. 2020, www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/7/ethiopia-parliament-votes-to-cut-ties-with-tigray-region-leaders.
Marks, Simon, and Abdi Latif Dahir. “As War Goes On in Ethiopia, Ethnic Harassment Is on the Rise.” The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2020/12/12/world/africa/Ethiopia-Tigray-ethnic.html.
“Ethiopia: Protect People as Tigray Crisis Escalates.” Human Rights Watch, 13 Nov. 2020,
“Sudan: Tigray Refugees Settle in but Worry about Missing Relatives | World Food Programme.” WFP, 1 Mar. 2021, www.wfp.org/stories/ethiopia-tigray-refugees-sudan-food-aid-hunger-world-food-programme-un
Ochab, Ewelina. “Mass Atrocities, Including The Use Of Rape And Sexual Violence, In The Tigray Region Of Ethiopia.” Forbes, 16 Feb. 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2021/02/16/mass-atrocities-including-the-use-of-rape-and-sexual-violence-in-the-tigray-region-of-ethiopia/?sh=5b42385653d3.
Parker, Ben. “Relief for Tigray Stalled as Ethiopian Government Curbs Access.” The New Humanitarian, 11 Feb. 2021, www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2021/2/11/Humanitarian-access-stalled-in-Ethiopia-Tigray.
Arvanitidis, Barbara Nima Elbagir And Eliza Mackintosh. “Tigray Forces Leader Accuses Ethiopian and Eritrean Governments of Genocide.” CNN, 2 Mar. 2021, edition.cnn.com/2021/03/01/africa/ethiopia-mfa-us-tigray-troops-intl/index.html.
“Eritrean Troops Massacre Hundreds of Civilians in Axum, Ethiopia.” Amnesty International, 26 Feb. 2021, www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/02/ethiopia-eritrean-troops-massacre-of-hundreds-of-axum-civilians-may-amount-to-crime-against-humanity.
