Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London, (Tigray Herald)
“No More Rainy Seasons in Tents”: Thousands of Displaced Tigrayans Rally in Mekelle, Demand Immediate Return Home and Full Pretoria Agreement Implementation
News Analysis: “We Won’t Spend a Fifth Summer in Shelters” Tigrayan IDPs Protest in Mekelle
By Gebre Tatios
On a quiet morning in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s war-scarred Tigray region, the voices of thousands rose in a unified plea: “We won’t spend a fifth summer in shelters.” These were not just slogans they were a cry for dignity, justice, and return. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), primarily from Western Tigray, marched peacefully through the city, demanding the withdrawal of occupying forces from their ancestral lands and reaffirming their inalienable right to return home.
This protest marks a critical moment in a long and unresolved chapter of Ethiopia’s complex civil conflict. It reflects not only the enduring suffering of those displaced but also the growing frustration with a peace process that has yet to translate into tangible outcomes for those most affected by the war.
The Context: A War that Redefined Ethiopia
Since the outbreak of civil war in November 2020 between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Tigray has been the epicenter of a devastating humanitarian and political crisis. Western Tigray, a fertile and ethnically mixed region, quickly became one of the most hotly contested territories. Soon after the war began, reports emerged of widespread ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and systematic violence against ethnic Tigrayans by Amhara regional forces and allied militias.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International jointly declared in a 2022 report that what occurred in Western Tigray amounted to ethnic cleansing. These findings included accounts of mass killings, arbitrary detentions, and the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans from the area.
Four years later, many of those displaced remain in overcrowded shelters in Tigray’s urban centers such as Mekelle, Adigrat, and Shire. They are without basic rights, without homes, and increasingly, without hope.
The Protest: A Test of the Peace Process
The peaceful protest in Mekelle is not just a call for humanitarian relief it is a direct challenge to the Ethiopian state and the international community. Despite the November 2022 Pretoria peace agreement between the federal government and Tigrayan authorities, key provisions most notably, the return of IDPs and the restoration of federal authority in disputed areas have not been implemented.
Western Tigray remains under the de facto control of Amhara regional forces, despite being constitutionally part of the Tigray region. The delay in dislodging these occupying forces and the absence of a clear, enforceable timeline for the safe return of IDPs cast a shadow over the sincerity and effectiveness of the peace process.
For many IDPs, the protest was about more than just returning home it was about being recognized as citizens with rights. As one protester was quoted saying: “We are not just refugees in our own country we are hostages of broken promises.”
The Human Toll: More Than a Statistic
Behind the chants and banners are lives deeply fractured by war. Many of the IDPs have endured multiple displacements, lost family members, and now survive in limbo, dependent on dwindling humanitarian aid and the goodwill of overstretched host communities.
Children have been born and raised in shelters, elderly survivors are dying far from the lands they cultivated for generations, and entire communities are being erased not only from maps, but from the national memory. With each passing summer in displacement, the damage deepens socially, psychologically, economically.
International Responsibility and National Accountability
The silence from both national authorities and much of the international community on Western Tigray is deafening. While global focus has shifted to other crises, the plight of Tigrayan IDPs persists as an unresolved tragedy. The protest in Mekelle underscores a growing perception that justice and accountability have been sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.
The Ethiopian government, if committed to national reconciliation, must demonstrate the political will to confront uncomfortable truths. That includes enforcing territorial integrity, ensuring the safe return of displaced persons, and holding accountable those responsible for ethnic violence and land grabs.
The African Union, the United Nations, and international partners who facilitated or endorsed the Pretoria agreement also bear responsibility. Peace agreements are not self-executing. They require enforcement mechanisms, monitoring, and above all, the prioritization of victims’ rights over elite political settlements.
Conclusion: “We Just Want to Go Home”
As summer approaches once again, the protestors’ message rings clear: survival is no longer enough. What the IDPs are asking for is not charity it is justice. It is the return to their homes, the restoration of their rights, and the recognition of their humanity.
If Ethiopia’s future is to be one of peace and unity, it must start by addressing the wounds of Western Tigray not through denial, but through truth, justice, and a commitment to never letting such a tragedy recur.
“We won’t spend a fifth summer in shelters,” they said. The world must decide whether to listen or once again, look away.
