HAMDAYET, Sudan – Atrocities have been burned in the skin and minds of Tigris, who take refuge in the thousands at the sight of their homeland in which they fled to northern Ethiopia.
I arrive in a heat that rises to over 100 F, bearing the pain of gunshot wounds, torn vaginas, blows to the beaten back. Less visible are the memories: dozens of bodies scattered on the banks of the river. Fighters take turns raping a woman because she speaks her language. A child, weakened by hunger, was left behind.
Now, for the first time, I am bringing evidence of an official attempt at what is called ethnic cleansing in the form of a new identity card that eliminates all traces of Tigray, as confirmed by The Associated Press by nine refugees from different communities. Written in a language other than their own, issued by authorities of another ethnic group, the books are seen as the latest evidence of an attempt by Ethiopia and its allies to destroy the Tigrayan people.
Amhara authorities now in charge of the nearby town of Humera took Seid Mussa Omar’s original ID card, which showed him his Tigrayan identity, and burned it, the nurse said. His new AP-reviewed book, issued in January, features the Amharic language, an Amhara stamp and a tiny edge of hearts.
“I kept it to show the world,” Seid said. “This is genocide … Their goal is to wipe out Tigray.”
What began as a political dispute in one of Africa’s strongest countries has turned into a campaign against minority Tigers, according to AP interviews with 30 Sudanese refugees. The Ethiopian government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed is accused of teaming up with Abiy’s ethnic group – his mother was Amhara – and soldiers in neighboring Eritrea, longtime the enemy of Tigray’s now fugitive leaders, to punish about 6 million people.
Ethiopia claims that life in Tigray is back to normal. But the refugees said there was still abuse. Almost all described the murders, rapes and destruction of crops that, without massive food aid, could starve the region.
For months, Tigray has been largely shut down in the world, with access to electricity and telecommunications being disrupted, leaving little to support claims that tens of thousands of people have probably been killed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that “ethnic cleansing” had taken place in western Tigray, marking the first time a senior official in the international community had openly described the situation as such. The term refers to forcing a population in a region through expulsions and other violence, often including crimes and rape.
The refugees said Amhara authorities had taken over the communities and ordered the Tigers to leave. Goitom Hagos of Humera told the AP that he had seen thousands of tigers loaded into trucks and did not know what had happened to them.
Some Tigers were ordered to accept Amhara’s identity or leave, the refugees said.
The Tigray conflict began in November as a political clash of the past and present. Tigray leaders have dominated the country’s government for nearly three decades, creating a system of ethnic-based regional states. But Abiy took office in 2018 and went on to centralize power. He removed the Tigray leaders and made peace with Eritrea by winning a Nobel Peace Prize.
Tigray’s defiant leaders deemed the central government illegal after last year’s elections were postponed and they held their own vote. The government launched a military offensive, saying Tigray forces had attacked a military base. Witnesses say the Amhara and Eritrean forces largely divided much of Tigray between them.
Ethiopia says it rejects “any and all notions and practices of ethnic cleansing.” A regional spokesman Amhara declined to comment.
The murders continue. In early March, 30-year-old Alem Mebrahtu attempted to cross the Tekeze River between parts of the Tigray below the Eritrea and the Amhara. Separated from her children in the conflict, she had heard that they were in Sudan.
About 50 bodies were scattered by the river, she said. “Some were face down. Some were looking at the sky. Exhaustion pressed deep under his eyes, he began to cry.
Reluctantly, to protect himself, he tries to learn Amharic.
“Their goal is not to leave any Tigrayan,” she said.
Refugees said rape was also widespread. One woman said that when she returned to the looted house in Humera, she was captured by Amharic-speaking militia members. He asked Tigrinya to speak, and they attacked her.
“Pretend you are Amhara and we will return your house and find you a husband,” the men said. “But if you claim to be a Tigrayan, we will come and rape you again.”
She’s pregnant now. The AP does not name people who have been sexually abused.
The United Nations says more than 500 rapes in Tigray have been reported to health workers. But armed groups destroyed most of Tigray’s health centers, leaving little help.
And more pain must come.
Almost every refugee described a worrying lack of food. Most saw the crops looted or burned. Kidu Gebregirgis, a farmer, said the Amhara harvested about 5,000 kilograms (5.5 short tons) of sorghum from its fields and pulled it away, a task that lasted two weeks.
The conflict began shortly before harvest in the largely agricultural region. Now the planting season is approaching.
“But there is no seed,” Kidu said. “There’s nothing to start with.”
Tigraeans who passed through rural communities described hungry people, often elderly, begging outside churches. Sometimes they did too.
Again, ethnicity was crucial. Belaynesh Beyene of Dansha said she made sure she spoke Amharic when she approached houses in West Tigray to eat.
Ethiopia, under international pressure, said food aid was distributed to more than 4 million people in Tigray. The refugees did not agree.
Maza Girmay, 65, said he heard food was being distributed, so he went to the government office in Bahkar to ask.
“They told me, ‘Go home, you’re Tigrayan,'” she said. The rejection brought her to tears.
A colonel with Tigray fighters, Bahre Tebeje, feared that famine would kill more people than the war itself.
The Tigraians still arrive daily at the border post, where Sudanese soldiers are pursuing no one’s land. One recent evening, the AP saw three approaching.
In Sudan, tigers are registered and required to be ethnic. For once, they are free to answer.