Refugees Tell About Conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray Area

Filimon heard the sound of heavy weapons in his Ethiopian border town, and he started to run. Filimon is an Ethiopian refugee who spoke¹ to the Associated Press, or AP.

He is now in Sudan. He does not know if his wife and two small children are trapped in the fighting or among the thousands of refugees. He is afraid and would only give one name.

Speaking by phone to AP from Sudan on Thursday, Filimon described what he experienced in the Tigray town of Humera last week.

He said those attacking came from the direction of Eritrea, though he does not know if they were Eritrean forces.

Ethiopia may be close to a civil war as it fights Tigray militants² at its northern border. The Tigrayans are demanding greater independence. Experts fear the conflict could bring in neighboring countries on both sides.

Tigray leaders have accused Eritrea of joining the week-long conflict at the request of Ethiopia's federal government. Ethiopia's government calls the Tigray government illegal. Ethiopia has denied the involvement of Eritrean forces.

Filimon's problems are far simpler.

After a day-long walk with about 30 others fleeing, he has been in Sudan for two days.

There are 11,000 refugees now, but officials are preparing for up to 100,000, the United Nations refugee agency said Thursday. About half of them are children.

The UN agency said it was not taking statements yet about the fighting. It is just trying to treat the wounded and separate soldiers from refugees.

In Ethiopia, worries over the conflict are spreading far beyond the northern Tigray area. The federal government said it had detained about 150 "operatives" accused of trying to spread "fear and terror" throughout the country.

Hours later, police in Addis Ababa said they had arrested 242 people for trying "to cause terror in the capital." It is not clear if these are separate numbers.

Tigrayans in Addis Ababa are scared. "We don't go to the office because they might also arrest us," said one ethnic³ Tigrayan in the capital.

Ethiopia's parliament has accused top Tigrayan officials of "attacking the federal army." It voted to remove immunity⁴ from prosecution⁵ for 39 top Tigray officials, including its president.

Around the country, people have demonstrated in support of the federal government's military moves against the Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF. That group governs the area.

Ethiopia's prime minister won the Nobel Peace Prize for his peacemaking efforts. But Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has rejected international requests for negotiations⁶. He said TPLF officials must be removed and arrested and all their weapons destroyed.

What appears to be a sudden move toward civil war has been coming for months. After taking office in 2018, Abiy announced political reforms that won him the Nobel prize. However, he also pushed the TPLF aside. It had been a major part of Ethiopia's federal government.

The TPLF left the government and held its own local elections. Ethiopia's federal government considers this illegal.

Words in This Story

immunity– n. a special protection from what is required for most people by law

prosecution– n. the act or process of bringing a person who is accused of a crim

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

5 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。