Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the statement issued by the G7’s Foreign Ministers regarding Tigray regional state.
In a press release it issued Saturday, the Ministry said the G7’s Foreign Ministers statement failed to capture the important steps taken by the Government of Ethiopia to fully address the pressing needs in the regional state.
In recent statement, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union expressed their concern about recent reports on human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law in Tigray.
They condemned the killing of civilians, sexual and gender based violence, indiscriminate shelling and the forced displacement of residents of Tigray and Eritrean refugees. The demanded all parties must exercise utmost restraint, ensure the protection of civilians and respect human rights and international law.
The Government of Ethiopia has continued intensifying its efforts to address the situation in the Tigray region and has made enormous progress since the law enforcement measures have come to a successful conclusion, according to the statement.
“Although these positive developments have been recognized and are visible for all to see, the statement issued by the G7’s Foreign Ministers on 02.04.2021 has failed to capture some of the important steps taken to ensure that the pressing needs of the region are in the process of being fully addressed in all fronts,” it said
Unfettered access to humanitarian aid, including international media, has now been fully granted and joint investigation on human rights violations by international human rights experts has also been allowed and will commence soon, the statement added.
Despite these measures, resources that should have been garnered from the international community to meet the humanitarian and development challenges remain far too low, the the ministry’s statement added.
MG/abj/APA