Hundreds of thousands of displaced Tigrayans are preparing to return home to the occupied areas of Western Tigray, North Western & Eastern Tigray, despite persistent threats of violence, forced occupation, and a lack of protection.
This warning, issued by the Tsilal Civil Society of Western Tigray, comes amid worsening conditions in IDP camps across Tigray.
Many of the IDPs have lost hope and are preparing to return on their own fully unprotected and facing grave danger, the organization said in a letter sent to foreign embassies. If nothing is done, we fear a bloodbath and potential for broader conflict, the organization warned.
The civil society’s call comes amid a rise in desperation inside the displacement sites, where food shortages, illness and trauma coupled with lack of political solution have pushed families toward what many describe as a “last resort.”
More than two years after Ethiopia’s federal government and the TPLF signed a peace deal to end one of the world’s deadliest wars in recent memory, close to a million people in Tigray remain displaced, many of them trapped in overcrowded schools, abandoned buildings, or makeshift camps.
Their homes and land particularly in Western Tigray and also areas bordering Eritrea remain inaccessible and occupied. The continued occupation has resulted one of the world’s most neglected displacement crises, happening largely away from international headlines.
The primary obstacle for IDPs to return to their homes, is the ongoing occupation by Amhara and Eritrean forces. Though the Pretoria Agreement called for the withdrawal of “non-ENDF and foreign forces”, these forces remain in large parts of Tigray.
According to the Tigray Interim Administration President, Lieutenant General Tadesse Werede, 40% of Tigray constitutionally recognized administrative territories of Tigray remain under continued military occupation, leaving nearly one million Tigrayans leave in displacement for nearly 5 years.
A Humanitarian emergency, Under the radar
While global attention has shifted to conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and now Israeli-Iran conflict, the humanitarian crisis in Tigray has quietly worsened.
Reports by several media outlets reveals hundreds of hunger and death related deaths across the IDPs camps in Tigray.
According to previous report by Wegahta, In Mekelle 70 kare, one of the largest camp in Tigray, over 16 IDPs died in three months, due to hunger, lack of medicine, and preventable disease. Children’s in the IDP camps are suffering from acute malnutrition.
Similarly in Axum and Shire, reports say that the death toll is alarmingly increasing.
International aid agencies acknowledge the growing needs but say they are severely underfunded. “We are operating on minimal resources and cannot meet the scale of the crisis,” said one humanitarian official at IOM, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Shelter conditions are also deteriorating. In several sites, IDPs live in abandoned schools, a situation that has disrupted local education and forced students to learn in temporary open-air spaces.
Fragile Peace, growing frustrations
The slow implementation of the Pretoria Agreement has triggered growing tensions between the TPLF and the federal authorities in Addis Ababa.
TPLF has been making repeated accusations against the federal government of not only failing to uphold key terms of the deal, including the safe return of displaced people and the withdrawal of Amhara and Eritrean forces but also violating the terms of the agreement.
In a weekly statement issued on June 8, Tigray’s People’s Liberation Front, said instead of withdrawing non-federal forces from Tigray, the Federal gov’t is “strengthening their presence in various ways”
The Federal government also made similar accusations against the TPLF, accusing the party of undermining the Pretoria agreement.
Observers warn that the deepening mistrust and lack of transparency and robust monitoring method on the implementation of the agreement could jeopardize the already fragile peace.
Meanwhile, displaced families say they are running out of time and patience. “We don’t have food, we don’t have homes, and we don’t have hope,” said one displaced man living in Mekelle. “We would rather die trying to return than stay here.”
On June 11, Internally displaced Tigrayans stormed the Interim administration office and held a meeting demanding the administration to address their concerns and respond to their demands.
During the meeting, Amanuel Assefa, deputy President of the Interim administration said “This time, we are determined to return our displaced people through the peace framework,” however many IDPs says they are tired of broken promises from the authorities.
On June 18–20, 2025, a three consecutive day protest is set to take place in the regional capital, Mekelle, and Geneva, Switzerland under the slogan “Enough of Spending Rainy Seasons in Tents,” demanding the withdrawal of non-ENDF and foreign forces from Tigray, the return to their home and the full implementation of the Pretoria agreement