Doctors Without Borders suspends most of its work in Ethiopia

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has suspended most of its activities in Ethiopia in order to comply with a three-month suspension order from the government.
The organization said its work in the Amhara, Gambella and Somali regions, as well as in the west and north-west of Tigray region, would be suspended with immediate effect.
"At short-notice, patients have been discharged from MSF clinics, leaving people in these locations with even further limited access to healthcare," the organization said in a statement.
"A team of nearly 1,000 Ethiopian staff are also on standby at home, while nearly all international staff having left the country," it added.
The news comes a month after Ethiopia suspended the work of three international aid organizations providing humanitarian assistance in the war-torn region of Tigray for at least three months.
The central government accused MSF Holland, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the Al Maktoum Foundation, among others, of employing staff without the necessary work permits.
MSF and NRC were also accused of spreading misinformation on social media, while MSF also used illegally imported satellite phones, the government added in a statement on Wednesday.
The Al Maktoum Foundation was further accused of violating Covid-19 regulations and mismanagement.
According to UN assessments, the humanitarian situation in Tigray has deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks. In November, the Ethiopian government launched a military offensive against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which until then had held power in the region.
The background to the conflict in the East African country is the years of tension between the TPLF and the central government.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopia for more than 25 years until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018 and forced the group out.
Many people in Tigray feel unrepresented by the central government and demand more autonomy. The current conflict has already driven hundreds of thousands of people to flee.