Ethiopia on the Brink of Mass Atrocities

One year after Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a humanitarian crisis is developing in the Horn of Africa as thousands of people are fleeing the two-week conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region. Since the start of the conflict between the Ethiopian Defence Forces and the Tigray Regional Paramilitary Police and militia loyal to the Tigray People Liberation Front, 25,300 refugees have fled the country into Sudan. According to Amnesty International, "scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death" the South West Zone of Tigray. Many others have been killed in airstrikes.

This panel discussion shed light on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region, the different narratives of the groups involved in the conflict, unpack the structural and political causes, and look at the regional implications of the conflict.

Speakers:

- William Davison, Senior Analyst for Ethiopia, Crisis Group

- Sarah Hunter, Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect

- Dr Semahagn Abebe, Assistant Professor, Endicott College

- Susan Stigant, Director of Africa Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace

The discussion is moderated by Marie lamensch, Project coordinator at MIGS