Table des matières
Jean-Nicolas Bach
Preface
Introduction—Mekelle Stories: Life in Time of War
- Introduction to the project and this book
- What the project is about
- Who we are
- Our approach
- What this book is, and what it is not
- The book illustrations
- Mekelle before the war (Map 3)
- Chronology of the war in Tigray
- Past decades
- Before the Tigray war
- The war starts
- Mekelle comes under federal control
- The TPLF/TDF return to Mekelle
- A humanitarian truce
- Fighting erupts again
- Peace agreement
- Establishment of the Tigray Interim Regional Administration (TIRA)
The Stories
Part I. “My story”
“My son was staring at me without moving his eyes, in panic and fear”
- 3-4 November, 2020: The war starts
- November 2020: Fighting in Tigray, uncertainty in Mekelle
- 28 November 2020: The ENDF enters Mekelle
- December 2020-June 2021: Mekelle under ENDF/ Federal Government control
- June 2021: The TPLF/TDF take back control of Mekelle and part of Tigray
- March 2022: An implicit truce
- August 2022: Fighting erupts again
- November 2022: The peace agreement
“What I had to do was pray for mercy just like other mothers do”
- 3-4 November, 2020: The war starts
- November 2020: Fighting in Tigray, uncertainty in Mekelle
- 28 November 2020: the ENDF enters Mekelle
- December 2020-June 2021: Mekelle under ENDF/Federal Government control
- June 2021: The TPLF/TDF return in control of Mekelle and part of Tigray
- March 2022: An implicit truce
- August 2022: Fighting erupts again
- November 2022: The peace agreement
“I never thought the war would last so long and harm us so much”
- 3-4 November, 2020: The war starts
- November 2020: Fighting in Tigray, uncertainty in Mekelle
- 28 November 2020: The ENDF enters Mekelle
- December 2020-June 2021: Mekelle under ENDF/ Federal Government control
- June 2021: The TPLF/TDF take back control of Mekelle and part of Tigray
- March 2022: An implicit truce
- August 2022: Fighting erupts again
- November 2022: The peace agreement
- The establishment of the Tigray interim regional administration
“The most distressing thing is not knowing my husband’s whereabouts”
- 3-4 November, 2020: The war starts
- November 2020: Fighting in Tigray, uncertainty in Mekelle
- 28 November 2020: The ENDF enters Mekelle
- December 2020-June 2021: Mekelle under ENDF/Federal Government control
- June 2021: The TPLF/TDF take back control of Mekelle and part of Tigray
- March 2022: An implicit truce
- August 2022: Fighting erupts again
- November 2022: The peace agreement
“I would personally have preferred a bullet rather than hunger”
- 3-4 November, 2020: The war starts
- November 2020: Fighting in Tigray, uncertainty in Mekelle
- 28 November 2020: The ENDF enters Mekelle
- December 2020-June 2021: Mekelle under ENDF/ Federal Government control
- June 2021: The TPLF/TDF return in control of Mekelle and part of Tigray
- March 2022: An implicit truce
- August 2022: The fighting erupts again
- November 2022: The peace agreement
- The establishment of the Tigray interim regional administration
“I have deteriorated, physically, economically and mentally”
- 3-4 November, 2020: The war starts
- November 2020: Fighting in Tigray, uncertainty in Mekelle
- 28 November 2020: The ENDF enters Mekelle
- December 2020-June 2021: Mekelle under ENDF/Federal Government control
- June 2021: The TPLF/TDF return in control of Mekelle and part of Tigray
- March 2022: An implicit truce
- August 2022: The fighting erupts again
- November 2022: The peace agreement
“But then the war started, and everything got messed up”
- 3-4 November, 2020: The war starts
- November 2020: Fighting in Tigray
- December 2020-June 2021: Under ENDF/Federal Government control, and Eritreans in Hawzien
- June 2021: The TPLF/TDF return in control of Mekelle and part of Tigray
- March 2022: An implicit truce
- August 2022: The fighting erupts again
- November 2022: The peace agreement
- The establishment of the Tigray interim regional administration
Part II.
“The war for me”: going through, enduring and coping
- Trajectories
- Day 1, the Northern Command’s night: Shock
- The following days: The war becomes reality in Mekelle
- The ENDF enters Mekelle: Confusion and helplessness
- The TPLF/TDF re-enters Mekelle: Confusion, joy, hope and mixed feelings
- The “truce” of March 2022: A sort of respite?
- War again: Anguish and despair
- The Pretoria Agreement and its aftermath: Relief, but not quite normalcy
- Enduring and surviving
- Experiencing an air strike, finding a shelter, taking advice on where to go
- Losing income, diversifying income sources
- Lacking everything, managing food scarcity, multiple coping strategies
- Mental distress, going to church
Living in Mekelle, a city at war
- Managing urban life
- Going to the market
- Public transport
- A temporary mobile network (November 2020)
- A weakened urban fabric
- Theft and crimes
- A waning social life
- Rent: A challenge for some, but not for all
- Access to food aid
- The rich and those who profiteered, and us
- Interacting with those in power in Mekelle
- Before the TPLF retreat from Mekelle
- A city under military control: “The PP time”
- The TPLF return to Mekelle: Contributions, food aid and enrolment in the TDF
- Being involved in public life
- Mekelle and its rural surroundings
- Fleeing Mekelle
- The countryside as a source of food supplies
- The countryside as a haven?
Insights into the war outside Mekelle and from outside Tigray
- The war in Tigray: information, mobilities, the TDF and IDPs
- Accessing the news
- Getting around in Tigray
- Witnessing the suffering of the TDF back in Mekelle
- Witnessing the misery of the internally displaced people
- Outside Tigray: perceptions of Ethiopia and the world
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopians and us: Broken and surviving ties
- The diaspora and its support
