‘Don't know if they are alive': anguish of Tigrayan families cut off by telecom shutdown
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Loading... - Maryann Kwakye
- 11 Aug 2022
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When the Ethiopian long-distance runner Gotytom Gebreslase won the women’s marathon gold at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon this month, her jubilation was tinged with sadness: she had broken the championship record, but could not celebrate with her family.
“My mother and father would have been delighted,” she said in a brief interview with the BBC, before bursting into tears.
Three of Ethiopia’s four gold medallists at the championships, including Gotytom, are from Tigray. Their success has has shone a light on one of the world’s longest communications shutdowns, which a senior EU official in June called a “partial blockade”.
“The Tigrayan athletes have still not got the opportunity to contact their families,” said Derartu Tulu, head of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, at a ceremony in Addis Ababa to welcome the return of the national athletics team on Thursday. “It is my expectation that our honoured president will surely solve this problem.” Read More...
