ADDIS ABABA, 02 October 2021, (TON):  Ethiopia said “it would expel seven senior UN officials for “meddling” in its affairs, ratcheting up worries over the humanitarian response in the war-torn and famine-threatened Tigray region.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was “shocked” by the decision, expressed full confidence in his staff in Ethiopia and said the UN was engaging with the government “in the full expectation” that the officials would be allowed to return.

According to diplomats, an emergency UN Security Council meeting will be held behind closed doors midday to discuss the matter.

The White House condemned the ejections of the UN staffers “in the strongest possible terms” with Press Secretary Jen Psaki calling it “unprecedented action to expel the leadership of all of the United Nations organizations involved in ongoing humanitarian operations”.

The expulsions, announced by the foreign ministry, came as Africa’s second-most populous country held elections for dozens of federal parliamentary seats, the final round of voting before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed forms a new government next week.

The seven UN officials, including the local heads of the UN children’s agency UNICEF and its humanitarian coordination office, have been declared “persona non grata” for “meddling in the internal affairs of the country”, the ministry said in a statement published on its Facebook page.