Panafrican News Agency

Ethiopian crisis: UNICEF outraged at airstrikes on IPD camps in Tigray

New York, US (PANA) - The UN children's fund, UNICEF, has expressed outrage at the recent airstrikes on camps for internally displaced persons and refugees in Tigray, northern Ethiopia.

The 5 and 7 January attacks have reportedly left scores of civilians, including children, killed and many more injured.

A statement on Sunday by UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, said refugee camps and internally-displaced persons (IDPs) settlements, including schools hosting displaced children and families and the essential facilities that provide them with humanitarian services, are civilian objects.

"Failing to respect and protect them from attacks may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law," she warned.

UNICEF noted that more than a year since the conflict in Tigray broke out, brutal acts of violence, including grave violations against children, continue to be perpetrated across northern Ethiopia by all parties to the conflict.    

UNICEF renewed its call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

"We urge all parties to the conflict to build on the initial signs of progress of the past several weeks, to adhere to international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, to facilitate humanitarian access and to protect children from harm.”

No-one has claimed responsibility for the airstrike on an IPD camp.

-0- PANA MA 10Jan2022