A time lapse shows the WFP building being destroyed in the Shimelba camp.
Satellite images show the destruction of United Nations facilities, a health facility, a secondary school and houses in two camps that house Eritrean refugees in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, contradicting the government’s claims that the conflict in the dissident region is almost over.
The eight The images from Planet Labs Inc are from Hitsats and Shimelba fields. The camps were home to about 25,000 and 8,000 refugees, respectively, before a conflict broke out in the region two months ago, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Smoke from fires at Hitsats camp.
“Recent satellite imagery indicates that structures in both fields are being targeted intentionally,” said Isaac Baker, an analyst at DX Open Network, a UK based non-profit human security research and analysis organization. “Systematic and widespread fires are consistent with an intentional campaign to deny the use of the field.”
DX Open Network has been monitoring the conflict and analyzing satellite imagery data since November 7, three days after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared war on a dissident group in the Tigray region that dominated Ethiopian politics before Abiy come to power.
The Ethiopian government announced victory against the dissidents on November 28, after federal forces captured the regional capital of Mekelle. Abiy talked about the need to rebuild and restore Tigray back to normal at the time.
Calls and messages to Redwan Hussein, spokesman for the government emergency task force in Tigray and spokesman for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Billene Seyoum, were not answered.
In Shimelba, the images show land devastated by apparent attacks in January. A depository for the World Food Program and a high school run by the Church’s Development and Inter-Aid Commission were also set on fire, according to analysis by the DX Open Network. In addition, a health unit run by the Ethiopian Agency for Refugee and Returnee Affairs, located near the WFP complex, was also attacked between 5 and 8 January.
At Hitsats camp, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) away, there were at least 14 active burning structures and another 55 were damaged or destroyed by January 5. There were new fires on January 8, according to analysis by the DX Open Network.
The UN refugee agency has not had access to the camps since fighting began in early November, according to Chris Melzer, the agency’s communications officer. UNHCR has managed to reach its other two camps, Mai-Aini and Adi Harush, which are to the south, he said.
“We also do not have reliable first-hand information about the situation in the camps or the welfare of refugees,” said Melzer in reference to Hitsats and Shimelba.
Eritrean soldiers have also been involved in the conflict and are accused of looting companies and kidnapping refugees, according to aid workers and diplomats informed about the situation. The governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea have denied that Eritrean troops are involved in the conflict.
The UN says The fighting is still going on in several areas of Tigray and 2.2 million people have been displaced in the past two months. Access to the region for independent journalists and analysts remains restricted, making it difficult to verify events.
(Updates with the Tigray story in the fourth paragraph)