MAKE INJERA NOT WAR #ZewduHaftu

📢 UPDATE: "Two men — Yared Gebresellase and Angesom Hailemariam have been sentenced to life in prison without parole by the Mekelle High Court. The court cited... Zewdu was dragged and fatally crushed under a vehicle after resisting an apparent sexual assault." #ZewduHaftu 💔

News: Teachers, students in #Tigray protest federal #salary suspension, call for international pressure Senior officials of the Tigray Interim Administration, alongside educators and students, staged large-scale protests across several towns in Tigray, including the capital #Mekelle, on 24 March 2026, condemning the federal government’s decision to “suspend civil servant #salaries” and calling for international intervention, regional broadcaster, Tigrai Television televised. The demonstrations, which drew thousands of teachers and students, underscored a deepening humanitarian and education crisis in the regional. Regional authorities say the federal government has halted salary payments for teachers since October 2025, a move they argue violates constitutional provisions and international legal obligations. #Amanuel_Assefa, Vice President of the Tigrai Interim Administration, told protesters that the suspension of budgets and salaries is a deliberate effort to dismantle Tigray’s social fabric. “The education system in Tigray was a primary target of the genocide and continues to suffer severe damage,” Amanuel said, adding that more than 1.2 million children remain out of school due to slow recovery of infrastructure. “The denial of budgets, fuel, and medicine is a calculated effort to weaken and disperse the people of Tigray.” Earlier this month, the Tigray education bureau had issued an urgent appeal to the federal government warning that a deepening funding shortfall is jeopardizing the fragile recovery of the region’s education system as teachers remain unpaid and schools face possible closure. Read more: addisstandard.com/?p=56054

#Ethiopia: More than 1,300 IDPs died of hunger in #Tigray camps, official says More than 1,300 internally displaced persons (#IDPs) have died from hunger and lack of medical care in camps across Ethiopia’s Tigray region over the past three years, according to a regional official cited by AFP. Gebreselassie Tareke, a director at Tigray’s Social Affairs Office, told AFP that at least 1,309 people had died in IDP camps, warning that conditions are deteriorating amid declining humanitarian assistance. “The situation is getting worse,” he said, noting reduced support from both the federal government and international aid organizations. He added that one of the most affected camps hosts around 150,000 people, with many others at risk. Recent reporting by Addis Standard points to similar conditions on the ground. On 19 March 2026, it reported that at least 333 IDPs had died at the #Hitsats camp since May 2025 due to hunger and lack of medicine, while 125 deaths were recorded in Adwa since October 2025. Displaced residents and camp coordinators described shrinking aid, worsening shortages, and continued arrivals as key drivers of the crisis. “People are wasting away; people are dying,” said Abrha Mebrahtom, coordinator of the Hitsats IDP center. The accounts echo earlier Addis Standard reports documenting deteriorating conditions in IDP centers across Tigray, including Abiy Addi, where returnees from Sudan reported receiving no assistance for months, alongside prior warnings of hunger-related deaths in Hitsats. Read more: addisstandard.com/?p=56035

If farmers in #Tigray are not allowed to farm this season, people will starve. We cannot wait until there is mass starvation to start talking about this. If the farmlands of Tigray become a battlefield, the children, pregnant women, and the elderly will suffer most.

Across the region, many young people increasingly view their future as uncertain within Tigray itself. Via @getachew_temare addisstandard.com/?p=55998

Journalist Yohannes Berhane was illegally abducted Mar 11 & held in a secret prison with no charges. Armed men raided his home without a warrant, traumatizing his crying kids (aged 1-6) & looting his belongings. A horrific violation! #FreeYohannes #Tigray #PressFreedom

As we celebrate Eid, we stand with our community. May this blessed time bring light, peace, and renewed hope to every home. #TDRF

A senior Tigrayan journalist, Yohannes Berhane, has been detained since March 19, 2026, and his whereabouts are still unknown. He was abducted by individuals in civilian clothing and taken in an unlicensed vehicle in Mekelle. @pressfreedom @CPJAfrica wegahtafacts.substack.com/p/a-senior-jou…

#Update: Shewit released on bail at second court appearance Shewit was granted bail of 10,000 Ethiopian birr by the Qedamay Weyane court after his initial request for bail was denied during an earlier hearing.

Eid Mubarak 🤎

The detention comes days after the arrest of Shewit Wudassie, co-founder of Romanat Online, highlighting what observers describe as increasing pressure on journalists and media workers in the region.

#Tigray: A senior journalist with state broadcaster Tigray TV, Yohanees Berhane, has been arrested by police in Mekelle, the station says Tigray TV said police informed them he was arrested on ‘charges of crimes’, without providing details. Read more: open.substack.com/pub/wegahtafac…

Shewit Gebregzabher is a political commentator, lecturer at Mekelle University and co-founder of Romanat Media. He was unlawfully detained on March 13th in Mekelle, Tigray for his political commentary. #FreeShewit

Today the UAE backed RSF have killed my father childhood friend 62 year old father and grandfather by stabbing him to death in kurdfan simply because he couldn’t afford the crazy ransom they demanded for him

The TPLF/IRA of Tigray can't lock up the diaspora. Use your privilege and raise your voice for Shewit. #FreeShewit

Shewit protested for #ZewduHaftu using our poster. He has been fearlessly advocating against injustices which is why the TPLF/IRA of Tigray want to silence him. #FreeShewit

We remember when Tigray police arrested Semhal for being a witness to the murder of #ZewduHaftu. Their lies know no bounds. #FreeShewit

If the willingness to pay the price of opposing the #TPLF is very low, it effectively becomes a willingness to accept its repressive rule. By arresting #Shewit and others like him, the TPLF is sending a clear message: the cost of pursuing advocacy, activism, or media work outside the TPLF framework is intentionally made to feel too high. The goal is to discourage independent voices and ensure that only conformity is tolerated. #Freeshewit

Hundreds of migrants are vanishing in the #Mediterranean. Authorities are withholding information Bodies washing ashore day after day. Phone calls from relatives going unanswered. #Migrants’ tents abandoned overnight. Migrants trying to reach #Europe are vanishing in droves in what are known as “invisible shipwrecks” but governments responsible for search and rescue are withholding information about what they know. The beginning of 2026 ranks as the deadliest start to any year for people trying to cross the Mediterranean — an unprecedented 682 confirmed missing as of March 16 — according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration. But the real death toll is almost certainly much higher. Human rights groups are increasingly struggling to verify tolls as #Italy, #Tunisia and #Malta have quietly restricted information on migrant rescues and shipwrecks along the deadliest migration route in the world. The news barely makes headlines, in part because the lack of transparency prevents journalists from confirming reports. “It’s a strategy of silence,” said Matteo Villa, a researcher focusing on migration and data at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies think tank. The organization Refugees in Libya and other human rights groups have been sounding the alarm since late January, reporting more than 1,000 people missing after Cyclone Harry hit the region. But authorities have not confirmed, denied or corrected those reports. In the weeks that followed the cyclone, more than 20 decomposing bodies washed ashore in Italy and Libya while other human remains were spotted floating in the middle of the sea. apnews.com/article/migran…