Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR , UNITED NATIONS
Reported Ethiopia massacre: UN rights chief warns of spiralling situation, urges an end to fighting
Disturbing reports of an alleged massacre have surfaced in Ethiopia’s Tigray region amid fighting between national and regional forces that threatens to spiral “totally out of control”, the UN warned on Friday.
Reacting to emerging details of mass killings involving scores of victims in the town of Mai-Kadra, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, expressed “increasing alarm at the rapidly deteriorating situation”, her spokesperson said.
“She warns that if the Tigray national (and) regional forces and Ethiopian Government forces continue down the path they are on, there is a risk this situation will spiral totally out of control, leading to heavy casualties and destruction, as well as mass displacement within Ethiopia itself and across borders,” Rupert Colville said during a regular Press briefing in Geneva.
Although the details of the alleged atrocity reported by Amnesty International in south-west Tigray “have not yet been fully verified, the High Commissioner is calling for a full inquiry”, Mr Colville continued. “If confirmed as having been deliberately carried out by a party to the current fighting, these killings of civilians would of course amount to war crimes.”
Insisting on the need to “stop the fighting and prevent any further atrocities from taking place”, the OHCHR spokesperson highlighted the devastating nature of the conflict.
“Despite the severing of communications with Tigray making it difficult to verify the extent of the damage so far, we’ve received reports from a variety of sources suggesting increased airstrikes by Government forces as well as fierce ground fighting between the opposing forces.”
Cuts to essential services and relief agencies were also deeply worrying, Mr Colville noted.
“The High Commissioner is also extremely alarmed at reports of cuts to essential water and electricity supplies, in addition to the communications blackout and the blocking of access by road and by air. This means there is already a dramatic impact on the civilian population.”
Since 2018, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was elected and merged several ethnically based regional parties into a single national force, regional and political tensions have risen, amid an ambitious reform programme.
Violence erupted at the start of the month in Tigray involving federal and local forces, following the reported takeover of an army base in the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, after which the Prime Minister ordered a military offensive.
In a statement issued in response to the escalating situation, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for “immediate measures to de-escalate tensions and ensure a peaceful resolution to the dispute”.
Prior to the Tigray escalation, dozens of people in western Oromia region were killed and injured in attacks.
In its latest alert over the safety of civilians in Tigray, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reiterated concerns for the safety of more than 96,000 Eritreans who are living in four refugee camps, and the host community living alongside them.
They are in addition to the 100,000 people in Tigray who were already internally displaced at the start of the conflict.
“Fighting in Tigray yesterday moved closer to Shimelba refugee camp – which hosts 6,500 Eritrean refugees – raising concerns of mass displacement from the camp itself,” said Babar Baloch, UNHCR spokesperson. “UNHCR is making preparations to receive refugees who have already begun arriving at another refugee camp, Hitsats, 50 kilometres away, and is considering further relocation options in the region.”
Refugees from Ethiopia continue to flee into neighbouring Sudan “increasingly rapidly”, Mr. Baloch said, “with over 4,000 crossing the border in just one day”.
Inside Sudan, those arriving from Ethiopia have been offered temporary shelter in transit centres near the border entry points of Ludgi in Gederef and Hamdayet in Kassala state.
They receive water and meals, while UNHCR and local authorities jointly screen and register the mean, women and children seeking safety.
“The transit centre at Hamdayet border crossing has a capacity to accommodate only 300 refugees, but is already overwhelmed with 6,000 people,” Mr. Baloch explained. “Sanitation facilities are insufficient, impacting hygiene.”
Reiterating her 6 November appeal for talks and resolve differences “without delay” and an immediate cessation of hostilities, UN Human Rights chief Bachelet insisted that both sides should understand “that there will be no winner” in such a conflict.
“A protracted internal conflict will inflict devastating damage on both Tigray and Ethiopia as a whole, undoing years of vital development progress,” she said. “It could, in addition, all too easily spill across borders, potentially destabilizing the whole sub-region.”
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable. For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This morning, we have received information that dozens more people were killed and injured,” Jeremy Laurence UN Human Rights spokesperson said at the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
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Edited News | OCHA
Gaza ‘hungriest place on earth’ with aid stymied – UN humanitarians
Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.
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Edited News | OCHA , UNRWA
As a controversial United States and Israel-backed aid distribution plan gets underway in Gaza, the UN called on Tuesday for an “immediate surge” of its own pre-positioned supplies to help prevent starvation.
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Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject a bill that was recently endorsed by parliament allowing trials of civilians in military courts. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Amendment Bill 2025, which was passed on 20 May and now awaits presidential signature to become law, among others broadens the jurisdiction of military courts, authorising them to try a wide range of offences against civilians.
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Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan at the bi-weekly briefing in Geneva.
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Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Syria: ‘Staggering’ needs amid insecurity, health care crisis - UN humanitarians
Millions of people in Syria continue to face mortal danger from unexploded munitions, disease and malnutrition and urgent support is required, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
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Edited News | UNRWA , OCHA , WHO
UN life-saving aid allowed to trickle into Gaza as civilian needs mount
Amid calls for more humanitarian trucks to enter the food and medicine-deprived Palestinian enclave of Gaza, UN humanitarians have received permission from Israel for “around 100” more aid trucks to cross into the Strip after only five were let in yesterday, But the scale of relief efforts allowed remains entirely insufficient to meet the urgent needs of people there, humanitarian workers say.
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Edited News
A war reporter from Lebanon who lost a limb in the line of duty is calling for an end to impunity for attacks against journalists.
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Edited News | ITU
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) commemorated 160 years dedicated to connecting the world on Saturday, 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland, during the annual World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
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Edited News | WHO , OCHA
Gazans ‘in terror’ after another night of deadly strikes and siege
Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza into Friday killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas and pleaded for the blockade to end.
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Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Deportations over recent months of large numbers of non-nationals from the United States of America, especially to countries other than those of their origin, raise a number of human rights concerns, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned on Tuesday.
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Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Over 50 child malnutrition deaths amid aid blockade; entire generation will be ‘permanently affected’ - WHO
In the aid desert of Gaza, malnourished children are dying while survivors can expect a lifetime of dire health problems, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.