Is the media to blame? The war in Ethiopia has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. And yet most people know very little about it.
World's deadliest war is also the least-known
Is the media to blame? The war in Ethiopia has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. And yet most people know very little about it.
Buildings destroyed. Families torn apart. People starving, forced to flee. And more than 600,000 innocent civilians dead - the deadliest conflict of the 21st Century.
You could be forgiven for thinking this is the story of Ukraine, of SyriaA Middle Eastern country that was the site of much of the fighting during the Crusades., of Afghanistan or Iraq. But you would be wrong.
In fact, the Ethiopian conflict has proved by far the deadliest of this century. But so few people know about it, some have named it the "forgotten war". 1
Now, less than three months after a peace agreement was signed to end the fighting, a new UNUnited Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security. report into human rights abuses committed during the war could put that new-found peace in danger.
The conflict in EthiopiaA landlocked country in Africa. With a population of about 120 million, Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures. first broke out in 2020 after Ethiopia's prime minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into the northern region of Tigray. He accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), who controlled the region, of attacking army bases there.
The following conflict left thousands of Tigrayans on the verge of starvation. "Hunger was used as a weapon of war," says Jan Nyssen, a professor from Belgium's University of Ghent.2
According to the UN, the war in Ukraine has caused around 7,000 civilian deaths. The brutal, decade-long civil war in Syria killed 307,000 civilians. But this is still markedly lower than in Ethiopia.
So why have we heard so little about the Ethiopian war compared to other conflicts? The region's inaccessibility and government-imposed blackouts have often made it difficult for the media to find accurate information. But critics say there are other reasons too.
Conflicts in Africa, including other wars in countries such as the Congo, Niger and Sudan, have long gone under-reported.
"Africa is something of a blind spot for international media despite the serious humanitarian needs there," says aid worker Stefan Knollmayer.3
Is the media to blame?
Yes: The media reflects Western society, which has long had a "blind spot" when it comes to Africa. If more publications reported on the Ethiopia conflict, it would not be the "forgotten war".
No: The government instigated blockades made it virtually impossible for the media to obtain accurate accounts of what was going on in Ethiopia.
Or... The difficulty of sourcing information made the media's job very difficult. But there was also a bias against covering stories relating to Africa.
Keywords
Syria - A Middle Eastern country that was the site of much of the fighting during the Crusades.
UN - United Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security.
Ethiopia - A landlocked country in Africa. With a population of about 120 million, Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures.
World’s deadliest war is also the least-known
Glossary
Syria - A Middle Eastern country that was the site of much of the fighting during the Crusades.
UN - United Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security.
Ethiopia - A landlocked country in Africa. With a population of about 120 million, Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures.