Starvation is Used as a Weapon of War
in the Absence of the Khilafah

The Ethiopian regime has used starvation as a means to eliminate opposition fighters in Tigray by blocking all food and medicines from entering the region.

90% of the population is at risk from starvation and death from preventable illness due to this inhumane strategy.

World Health Organisation head Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus is quoted as saying:

“Nothing is moving. I was expecting food and medicine to start flowing immediately after the ceasefire. That's not happening. People were dying from starvation and treatable diseases and 6 million people have been shut off from the rest of the world for two years as if they did not exist”.

He also added that electricity and telecom services had been restored in some areas but was accused by Ethiopian officials that that he was waging a propaganda war spreading false information and trying to undermine the peace agreement.

Currently the statistics are that as of 2022 13 million people facing food insecurity in the region and 150,000 - 200,000 have died from starvation. 89% are in need of food aid. In one report published in June 2021 over 350,000 people were already experiencing “catastrophic’ famine conditions and Tigray currently holds the status of hosting the worst famine in East Africa since 2011 and 2012. A report by the global magazine The Economist cites that there is evidence of the Ethiopian government of deliberately withholding food and medicines from the Tigray population to disable the TPLF the (Tigray Peoples Liberation Front).

On the 10th of February 2021, Abera Tola, head of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society reported that people were arriving at refugee camps seeking aid emaciated and “that their skin was really on their bones”. He estimated that 80% of people were unreachable by humanitarian organizations.

In early February 2021, Muferiat Kamil, the Ethiopian Minister of Peace agreed that there should be greater food distribution in the Tigray region, there was a short window of relief but the following months of poor rain fall and decimation of crops by locusts meant that the harvests were severely reduced compounding food shortages. Currently between 400 and 900 people are dying every day from starvation with no signs of that number getting any less. OCHA, ReliefWeb released their understanding that 1 person was dying of starvation every 48 seconds.

These horrific acts are indeed orchestrated by the evil entities ruining our lands as they serve the nefarious designs of the Colonialist rulers who seek to weaken resistance of the people in that Horn of Africa, one of the most resource rich areas in the world. With the native populations struggling for their daily survival, the nations are busy to allow foreign companies and governments to exploit the business opportunities that war brings, what we are really witnessing here is the repeated use of poverty and starvation to keep nations weak. The devastation that this has on the millions of women and children who are caught in this political game of power is irrelevant to the animalistic greed of Western nations seeking power and money. On the 2nd of July 2021, the United Nations Security Council discussed the issue and declared that more than 400,000 people were being affected by food insecurity and that 33,000 children were severely malnourished. The report also stated that 1.8 million people were on the brink of famine.[26]

The superficial laws that exist in the UN records such as;

Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court that states "Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions" and Articles 270(i) and 273 of the 2004 Ethiopian Penal Code relating to criminal laws in regards to starvation in the Tigray War have no real application.

In April 2021 the World Peace Foundation published a report and in section 4 of that document growing evidence is listed of the deliberate use of food and medical shortages to cripple the infrastructure of the Tigray region. The authors concluded that the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments were responsible for starvation, and that "circumstantial evidence suggest[ed] that [the starvation was] intentional, systematic and widespread.”

There is no interest from international bodies in implementing any intervention in this reality as it serves the interests strategically. Similarly, Iranian political instability over the death of one woman is given international attention, when women and children die in Palestine at the Zionist governments it saves the interests to give no attention to that event.

In early October 2021, Mark Lowcock, who led OCHA during part of the Tigray War, stated that the Ethiopian federal government was deliberately starving Tigray, "running a sophisticated campaign to stop aid getting in" and that there was "not just an attempt to starve six million people but an attempt to cover up what's going on."

In November 2021 in Human Geography, Teklehaymanot G. Weldemichel argued that "famine [in Tigray Region] was from the start an end goal of the Ethiopian and Eritrean" governments. Teklehaymanot listed key tactics that he saw as inducing a famine to include the systematic looting and destruction of infrastructure; banking measures that blocked access to cash; and a siege obstructing humanitarian aid.

The only valid response for these crimes against humanity can be given by the valid authority on earth which is in the form of Allah (swt) and His commands to establish the Khilafah (Caliphate) that will give all of humanity its due rights to food, clothing and security of life. Uthman ibn Affan (ra) reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said,

«لَيْسَ لِابْنِ آدَمَ حَقٌّ فِي سِوَى هَذِهِ الْخِصَالِ بَيْتٌ يَسْكُنُهُ وَثَوْبٌ يُوَارِي عَوْرَتَهُ وَجِلْفُ الْخُبْزِ وَالْمَاءِ»

“There is no right for the son of Adam other than these things: a house in which he lives, a garment to cover his nakedness, a piece of bread, and water.” [Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2341]

We as a Muslim Ummah that has one brotherhood must act upon these commands of Allah (swt) to have all of humanity unified under the banner of the Sharia rules and we must urge each other to work tirelessly until this matter of obligation is realized.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Imrana Mohammed
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir