Why Is No One Talking About Tigray?

War is hell, as the saying goes. And it’s hell regardless of where it’s taking place. You might therefore expect that wars in different parts of the world would generate similar levels of coverage. But that would be naïve: some wars generate far more coverage than others.

At the present time, the BBC has an entire section of its website devoted to the war in Ukraine. And if you watch the BBC News channel, you’ll get updates about the conflict every hour. This makes sense: the war in Ukraine is very serious, and the public ought to be informed about it (though the BBC isn’t always the best source).

Another conflict, which you hear even less about, is the Tigray war in Ethiopia. This conflict has ‘only’ been going for a year and a half, but some sources say that half a million people have died. What’s more, there are numerous reports of war crimes and even crimes against humanity. (The latter are war crimes perpetrated against specific ethnic groups.)

In April of this year, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch published a report, which found evidence of “murder, torture, forcible transfer, rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearances, widespread pillage, imprisonment, possible extermination, and other inhumane acts”.

While all sides in the conflict are believed to have carried out war crimes, the main victims appear to be the ethnic Tigrayans, who inhabit the region where the conflict centres. And a recent article in the Nation claims they are being subjected to “genocide”.

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