A good number of children have been suffering in Ethiopia due to the persistent civil war between the country and its region known as Tigray which started on 20 November 2020. These children that are mainly from the Tigray region of Ethiopia have been the ones suffering most from the civil war and it has been targeted as a war crime against humanity as a legal provision by the International Criminal Court (ICC). It’s expected that it’s the duty of the International Criminal Court investigative officers to look into the affairs that have to do with the maltreatment of civilians across the whole world especially when it concerns children.
In the case of Ethiopia's Tigray civil war, thousands of children from the Tigray region have been targeted by Ethiopia’s government to suffer from hunger, diseases, and many more. As a result of the maltreatment by Ethiopia’s government towards civilians, a good number of children have lost their lives while many are still suffering to recover from treatment.
Reuters reported that professional doctors and regional health officials have stated that numbers of deadly diseases which include deadly cough, measles, diarrhea, tetanus, hepatitis B, malnutrition and many more have been uncontrollable in the Tigray region due to the rejection of vaccination by Ethiopia’s government during that last two years civil war which happened from 20 November 2020. Following the Reuters report, Health Bureau data concerning Ethiopia's Tigray region proves that 10% of children lack routine vaccines which they are constantly supposed to be receiving due to the government does not want to boost immunization within the Tigray region as a result of the civil war that happened two years ago between the two.
I do not want to believe that some African governments in the case of Ethiopia could be heartless to target children’s life as a means of payback due to the civil war that happened between Ethiopia and the Tigray region two years ago and they do not know anything about it. Children are supposed to be cared for and protected and not suffered and kill them indirectly. Well, the ICC is always there to intervene for the civilians nationwide because they are the common man.
Malaymail reported that Lia Tadesse known as the Ethiopian Health Minister stated that over 860,000 doses of measles vaccines have been constantly distributed to the Tigray region between December last year and April this year. Following the Malaymail report, a popular surgeon at Ayder Referral Hospital who is known as Fasika Amdeslasie stated that all the free medical attention given in Ethiopia as a provision by the WHO and UN is coming but not reaching the Tigray region because the government of Ethiopia is the ones blocking it.
It’s believed that the Tigray region of Ethiopian children have been denied access to medical attention despite the UN push when there was a war break between March and August and this could lead to a war crime as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front keep blaming the Ethiopian government.
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