WHO chief: Is lack of help for Tigray crisis due to skin color?
The head of the World Health Organization described the ongoing crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region as “the worst disaster on Earth” and wondered aloud Wednesday if the reason global leaders have not responded was due to “the color of the skin of the people in Tigray.”
In an emotional statement at a press briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus — himself an ethnic Tigrayan — said the situation caused by the conflict in his home country is worse than any other humanitarian crisis in the world.
“I haven’t heard in the last few months any head of state talking about the Tigray situation anywhere in the developed world. Anywhere. Why?” Tedros asked.
“Maybe the reason is the color of the skin of the people in Tigray.” he said.
Video Transcript
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS: The humanitarian crisis in Tigray is more than Ukraine, without any exaggeration. Maybe the reason is the color of the skin of the people in Tigray. I haven't heard in the last five, few months, several months now even a head of state talking about the Tigray condition anywhere. Why? I think we know. Nowhere on Earth 6 million people are sealed of, nowhere, from basic services, from their own money, from telecom, from food, from medicine. This is the worst disaster on Earth as we speak.
