💭 Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says world ‘is not treating the human race the same way’ amid Tigray crisis
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has criticized the global community’s focus on the war in Ukraine, arguing that crises elsewhere, including in his home country of Ethiopia, are not being given equal consideration, possibly because the people affected are not white.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus questioned whether “the world really gives equal attention to Black and white lives” given that ongoing emergencies in Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria had garnered only a “fraction” of the concern for Ukraine.
Last month Tedros said there was “nowhere on Earth where the health of millions of people is more under threat” than Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
Since a truce was declared in Tigray three weeks ago, about 2,000 trucks should have been able to bring food, medicines and other essentials to the conflict-ridden area, he said during a virtual press briefing from Geneva on Wednesday. Instead, only about 20 trucks had arrived, he said.
“As we speak, people are dying of starvation,” said Tedros, a former health minister in Ethiopia and an ethnic Tigrayan. “This is one of the longest and worst sieges by both Eritrean and Ethiopian forces in modern history.”
He acknowledged that the war in Ukraine was globally significant, but asked whether other crises were being accorded enough attention.
“I need to be blunt and honest that the world is not treating the human race the same way,” he said. “Some are more equal than others.”
Tedros described the situation in Tigray as tragic and said he “hopes the world comes back to its senses and treats all human life equally”.
He also criticised the media’s failure to document atrocities in Ethiopia, noting that people had been burned alive. “I don’t even know if that was taken seriously by the media,” he said.
💭 An example that confirms the validity of Dr. Tedros’ observation
1. Britain will fly many asylum seekers 4,000 miles to Rwanda under a landmark plan to ‘take back control of illegal immigration’. Ministers have struck a ‘world-first’ deal with the East African nation to host migrants – including those who come to Britain across the Channel – while their claims are considered by the Home Office.
2. Homes for Ukraine refugee scheme launches in UK
The government has launched its Homes for Ukraine site for those wanting to host a refugee, with 100,000 signing up within the first day.
Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove said the UK had a history of “supporting the most vulnerable during their darkest hours”.
He said there would be no limit to how many Ukrainians could enter the UK under the visa sponsorship scheme.
Each household housing a refugee will be offered £350 a month, tax-free.
‘Diabolical’ UK visa scheme nearly forced family back to Ukraine
A UK sponsor from the Homes for Ukraine scheme has described the “diabolical” application process that nearly forced the refugees he is housing to return to a warzone.
Steve Dury from Langport, Somerset, was only able to accommodate two mothers and three children from Kharkiv, Ukraine, when his “desperate plea” led the Home Secretary’s office to intervene and see to the approval of the group’s final visa application for three-year-old Egor Svichkar.
Having applied for the scheme when it first opened on March 18, Egor’s four relatives had been staying in Warsaw and acquired their visas by the beginning of April, but a further delay left them waiting on Egor’s document until Monday.
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