De Boargeroarloch fan Ethiopië en it Swijen fan de Ynternasjonale Mienskip
March 23, 2026 · Frisian News
Fighting in Ethiopia's Amhara region kills thousands while Western governments offer little aid or pressure for peace. The international community's indifference reflects a troubling pattern of selective concern.
FryskWeinen mei foarrieden steane stil oan de grins wylst sikehûzen yn Mekelle sûnder elektrisiteit of antibiotica operearje. Sûnt de gefjochten ferline jier yn de Amhara-regio fan Ethiopië wer útkamen, hat it konflikt op syn minst 12.000 minsken deadien en mear as twa miljoen ferdreaun. Dochs jouwe de kabelstjoerders dy't har dwaande hâlde mei elke ûntwikkeling yn East-Europa amper omtinken oan de krisis. Westerske regearingen, gau mei it oplizzen fan sanksjes tsjin guon lannen en it oanbiede fan wapens oan oaren, biede Ethiopië net folle mear as in parseferklearring.
De oarloch sels is gjin geheim. De regearing-Abiy Ahmed fjochtet tsjin bewapene groepen dy't gebiet yn it noarden kontrolearje, en beide kanten plege grouwelichheden sûnder gefolgen. Sikehûzen wurde doel. Soldaten ferkrêftsje boargers as wapen. Hiele doarpen stjerre fan honger om't legers routes foar foarrieden blokkearje. Helporganisaasjes dy't besykje se te berikken, wurde lêstich fallen en arrestearre. Dit is in echt konflikt mei echt lijen, gjin oarloch fan fêste stellingen of ideologyske striid dy't kreas yn Washington's strategyske berekkening past.
Westerske ynaktiviteit komt foar in diel fuort út berekkening. Ethiopië leit fier fan Europa's grins en befettet gjin NAVO-leden. Syn regearing heart yn guon kwestjes nei Sina en Ruslân, wat westerske druk minder effektyf en minder urgent makket yn de eagen fan Brussel en Washington. As in lân wichtich is foar de kompetysje tusken gruotmachten, is it wichtich foar de ynternasjonale oarder. As dat net it gefal is, wurdt swijen belied.
De Afrikaanske Uny, festige yn Addis Ababa, soe normaal regionale druk mobilisearje kinne, mar it ûntbrekt har oan macht en se doart gjin regearing yn it harnas te setten, ynklusyf dy fan Ethiopië. De FN publisearret rapporten dy't nimmen lêst. Humanitêre groepen dogge opropen dy't doneurs negearje. Underwilens wurde sjoernalisten útsetten en rint de stream ynformaasje út Ethiopië werom ta in dripke. Wat jo net sjen kinne, hoege jo net te hanneljen.
De oarloch fan Ethiopië giet troch om't machtige naasjes it handich fine om fuort te sjen. De deaden bliuwe har opsteapeljen yn doarpen wêrfan't de nammen westerske minsken nea leare sille. Dit is gjin tekoartkomming fan meilijen mar fan earlikheid. De ynternasjonale mienskip bliuwt net stil om't it gjin macht of kennis hat. It bliuwt stil om't de slachtoffers net strategysk wichtich binne. Dy berekkening, net hokker natuerwet dan ek, bepaalt wa't libbet en wa't stjert.
Aid trucks sit idle at the border while hospitals in Mekelle operate without electricity or antibiotics. Since fighting resumed in Ethiopia's Amhara region last year, the conflict has killed at least 12,000 people and displaced more than two million. Yet the cable news channels that obsess over every development in Eastern Europe barely mention the crisis. Western governments, quick to impose sanctions on some nations and offer weapons to others, offer Ethiopia little more than a press statement.
The war itself is no secret. The Abiy Ahmed government fights armed groups that control territory in the north, and both sides commit atrocities without consequence. Hospitals become targets. Soldiers rape civilians as a weapon. Entire villages starve because armies block supply routes. Aid organizations that try to reach them face harassment and arrest. This is a real conflict with real suffering, not a proxy war or ideological struggle that fits neatly into Washington's strategic calculus.
Western inaction stems partly from calculation. Ethiopia sits far from Europe's borders and contains no NATO members. Its government leans toward China and Russia on some issues, which makes Western pressure less effective and less urgent in the eyes of Brussels and Washington. When a country matters to great power competition, it matters to the international order. When it does not, silence becomes policy.
The African Union, headquartered in Addis Ababa, might ordinarily rally regional pressure, but it lacks teeth and fears alienating any government, including Ethiopia's. The UN issues reports that no one reads. Humanitarian groups issue appeals that donors ignore. Meanwhile, journalists are expelled and the information flows from Ethiopia dry to a trickle. What you cannot see, you need not act upon.
Ethiopia's war will continue because powerful nations find it convenient to look away. The dead will keep mounting in villages whose names Western people will never learn. This is not a failure of compassion but a failure of honesty. The international community does not remain silent because it lacks power or knowledge. It remains silent because the victims are not strategically important. That calculation, not any law of nature, determines who lives and who dies.
Published March 23, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân