Gov’t Making Preparations to Welcome One Million Ethiopian Diaspora Home: PM Office
Preparations are underway to receive one million Ethiopian Diaspora invited to come home to attend this year’s Christmas in their motherland, Press Secretary Billene Seyoum said.
In her press briefing today, she said the Office of the Prime Minister extended the invitation to Ethiopians living in the diaspora and the response of Ethiopians worldwide to the ‘Great Ethiopian Home Coming Challenge’ has been very positive.
The Ministry of Tourism is spear heading various activities and the details of these would reach the public in due time, she added.
The Ethiopian Airlines has announced 30 percent off on bookings made until December 20 and there are many other service providers that are engaged in ensuring that this is done so with a large scale.
“Once again we want to extend the challenges to all around the world and to friends of Ethiopia to come back and show solidarity with the vast sections of society, compatriots that have been the brunt of these challenges and atrocities committed by TPLF and also to show the world that what is being cascaded throughout international media spaces in the air waves is not as it is,” the press secretary elaborated.
Speaking about humanitarian response in the northern part of the country, Billene said the spillover of Tigray conflict in Amhara region is now estimated to have displaced more than 1.4 million people in the region as per reports that have been received from the National Disaster Risk Management Commission and the Emergency Coordination Committee.
This is a notable increase from the figures of last week, she noted.
Following the recent military victories against the terrorist TPLF in Amhara region, the government has allocated over 28,000 metric tons of food for more than two million people in 24 woredas of north Wollo, Shoa and south Wollo.
This is the first response and the first trucks loaded with more than 5,000 quintals of different kind of food have been dispatched to Gashena and Lalibela, the press secretary stated.
In Afar region, there are now more than 1.3 million people in need of immediate emergency response.
Close to 400,000 people have been displaced from 17 woredas directly as a result of TPLF aggression and belligerence in the region, it was learned.
There are some partners that are engaged in the distribution of around 64, 000 quintals of food to conflict affected people. Around 7,500 emergency shelter and non-food items have been distributed in Gulina and Chifra woredas.
Nevertheless, there’s still a glaring gap in terms of humanitarian assistance and particularly humanitarian assistance focus for these two regions while the continued global outcry is only focused on Tigray region, Billene noted.
In Tigray, since the resumption of UNHR flights between Addis Ababa and Mekele, to date four return flights have been conducted.
A total of 203 trucks have also arrived in Tigray with humanitarian supplies, and this has reached Mekele.
“Some members of the international community that have been raising concerns about a lack of humanitarian assistance in Tigray region are still quiet on the hold up of a 900 trucks by the TPLF that could be used to transport food and non-food items; and there is growing evidence to suggest that there is a refusal on the other side to return these trucks.”
The press secretary revealed that TPLF is still using these trucks to move around its combatants from place to place and also to transport looted items from areas it has been routed out from.
According to her, there is a double standard exhibited in this regard as well; where the silence about TPLF’s human rights abuses, looting of property, and destruction has been conducted in real time.
Source: Ethiopia News Agency