STOP THE GENOCIDE AND IMPENDING FAMINE IN TIGRAY: PROTEST AT GPO AT 1PM MONDAY, 14TH JUNE

IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT (IAWM)
PRESS RELEASE – 12 ​June 2021
– Stop the genocide and impending famine in Tigray
– Support the Tigray Community in Ireland, Monday 14th at 1pm, at the GPO, Dublin
In a statement today, the Irish Anti War Movement (IAWM) expressed grave concern for the worsening conditions in Tigray, a region in the north of Ethiopia.
Conditions in the Tigray region have been spiralling downwards since the federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared war on Tigray, launching airstrikes and sending in ground troops in November 2020.
Many believe this escalation was a punishment after Tigray held regional elections in defiance of an election ban by the federal government after it cancelled elections due to be held in August 2020. Since then, the Ethiopian administration has been blocking or limiting access to electricity, aid, food, and water for millions of Tigrayan people.

IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT (IAWM)
PRESS RELEASE – 12 ​June 2021
– Stop the genocide and impending famine in Tigray
– Support the Tigray Community in Ireland, Monday 14th at 1pm, at the GPO, Dublin
In a statement today, the Irish Anti War Movement (IAWM) expressed grave concern for the worsening conditions in Tigray, a region in the north of Ethiopia.
Conditions in the Tigray region have been spiralling downwards since the federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared war on Tigray, launching airstrikes and sending in ground troops in November 2020.
Many believe this escalation was a punishment after Tigray held regional elections in defiance of an election ban by the federal government after it cancelled elections due to be held in August 2020. Since then, the Ethiopian administration has been blocking or limiting access to electricity, aid, food, and water for millions of Tigrayan people.
Ethiopian troops, Eritrean troops and Amhara Militias have committed multiple war crimes and ethnic cleansing, massacring civilians, weaponizing starvation and using widespread sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls.
It has been reported that over 70,000 civilians have been killed with 4.5 million people in need of food aid. 2.2 million people have been internally displaced and tens of thousands of refugees have fled to neighbouring Sudan. The UN estimate that over 350,000 people are in famine.
Escalating violence in Tigray would be catastrophic for that whole region of Africa and more displaced refugees would add to an existing global refugee crisis.
We call on the Irish government to use its influence on the UN security council to seek urgent action to stop this wanton violence against the Tigray people, to prevent further bloodshed and to alleviate famine conditions.
The IAWM will be supporting the Tigray Community in Ireland at the GPO, O’Connell St, Dublin on Monday 14th June at 1pm.
END