October 31, 2024

Re : Open letter to the President of the United Arab Emirates

 

Your highness E Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates,

We write to you with profound sadness and disappointment regarding your involvement in the ongoing internal conflict in Ethiopia. It has been a well known fact  that the UAE continues to be the primary supplier of funds, weapons and drones to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is utilizing them in his brutal military campaign against the Amhara people in  Ethiopia.

Previously, Abiy Ahmed waged a devastating war in Tigray, resulting in the loss of countless innocent lives, including women, children and the elderly. His army, equipped with your drones; targeted innocent civilians, public infrastructure and private properties with impunity. The indiscriminate attack against ordinary citizens and killings of innocent civilians has, once again, become the hallmark of the current campaign in the Amhara region of Ethiopia as it had been in Tigray, sadly with weapons and drones supplied by your government. The indiscriminate attacks and killings have included children, women, the elderly returning from church and mosque services, and individuals simply going about their daily routine in the Amhara region and beyond. 

The World Food Programme has announced that 9.4 million people across the Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions require food assistance due to the impacts of the conflicts. Under your leadership the government of the UAE, which is providing drones and heavy weaponry worth millions of dollars and supplying funds to the Ethiopian regime has not shown any interest in assisting those who found themselves as casualties of the military campaign and are suffering in the last and in the current conflict.

We are writing to you, your highness, as distressed individuals from the Amhara region of Ethiopia. Our families, friends, and relatives are suffering and we believe that your support and direct involvement in the ongoing conflict are threatening the very survival and existence of our people.

At this critical moment in our history, our people are facing the full  force  of the military might  of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is receiving your direct support. As a result of this conflict, countless children are being killed either directly or as a consequence of malnutrition, hunger, and preventable diseases, all because of their ethnicity.

Schools have been destroyed by drones supplied by your country, leaving children unable to receive education. Pregnant women, the sick, and vulnerable groups cannot access health facilities due to the destruction of medical facilities. The economy of the Amhara region is devastated and millions of people are losing their livelihoods and lives.

It is at this catastrophic time that we are turning to you and bringing this suffering to your attention. We take this opportunity to urge you, as a responsible leader of the UAE, to be a friend to the Ethiopian people and to reconsider your position in this matter. We are under no illusion that you are well informed that the Amhara freedom fighters are getting stronger and stronger by the day and shaking up Abiy Ahmed’s regime. Abiy Ahmed is losing his moral standing as well as his military campaign. He is fighting the civil war only to extend his grip on power.  We implore you to cease the supply of funds and arms that are used to kill and maim women, children, and the elderly. While Abiy and his generals bear the primary responsibility for these atrocities, we believe that your intervention can make a significant difference in protecting innocent lives in Ethiopia. We are confident that your highness  will agree that it would not be prudent for you to have blood on your hands by continuing the supply of armaments and funds to the dying regime of Abiy Ahmed and jeopardizing the cordial relationship between the people of Ethiopia and the UAE.

We, very kindly, request your urgent attention to this matter and we hope that you will consider our plea for the sake of humanity and the well-being of the Amhara people who are suffering and battling for their very survival as an ethnic group in Ethiopia. Your stance at the right side of history and our people will shape the future of brotherly relations between Ethiopia and your  kingdom and country.

 

Yours sincerely,

Federation of Amhara Association in Europe