'Waiting for death': Desperate plight of Tigray's war displaced

Wolde Meressa lives cheek by jowl in a cramped classroom with 30 other people in a school that has been converted into a shelter for displaced people in Ethiopia's war-scarred region of Tigray.

Around him in his makeshift home in Tigray's capital Mekele is a jumble of pots, clothes and water containers.

"By staying here, we are merely waiting for death," lamented the 78-year-old Wolde, who lives in the shelter with his wife and several of their children.

He is one of more than a million people driven from their homes during the brutal Tigray conflict whose fate is still in limbo even though the guns fell silent almost two years ago.

The internally displaced people (IDPs) live a life of despair and uncertainty, often cold and hungry, in makeshift camps or converted schools across the region, scene of one of the deadliest wars of the 21st century.

"We are on the verge of death, praying to God to take us back to our homes," said Wolde.

An estimated 600,000 people were killed during the two-year war between Ethiopian government forces and Tigrayan rebel authorities, and about three million were made homeless.

The UN's humanitarian response agency, OCHA, says there are still 1.1 million people who have not been able to return home despite the signing of a peace deal in November 2022.

Their situation is becoming more desperate as aid organisations scale back their operations and essential aid is harder to come by, humanitarian workers say.

"I have been in this IDP camp for three years and am now entering my fourth," Tibe Addise told AFP in a sprawling camp run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Shire, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) northwest of Mekele.

"Since arriving, I have struggled to care for my children, suffering cold and hunger daily," the 42-year-old said, a multi-coloured shawl draped over her head and shoulders.

Behind her, lines of washing hung above the dirt paths winding through the tents as people carried sacks of food and children played.

"Many others share my plight, though we have no choice but to stay here."

The IDPs that AFP spoke to were forced from their homes in Western Tigray, a hotly disputed area claimed by both Tigray and the neighbouring Amhara region that remains largely inaccessible to humanitarian agencies.