Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The most infamous famine of all was that of 1984-86, in which between 400,000 and a million people died.
Though the conditions that led to famine are widely blamed on drought, it's been shown that widespread drought
conditions actually occurred only some months after the famine was underway and that for many areas the harvest
of 1982 delivered something of a bumper crop. Instead, the major cause was the civil unrest and rebellions taking
place in many parts of the country, the failed government resettlement campaigns, communal farms and 'vil-
lageisation' programs - all of which aggravated the disaster in many areas. In addition Derg leader Mengistu's
disinclination to help the province of Tigray - the worst affected region and home to the powerful Tigrayan
People's Liberation Front (TPLF) - caused thousands more to die.
Drought continues to haunt the Horn of Africa today. A severe drought, said by many to be the worst in 60
years, affected (and at the time of writing continues to affect) a large part of eastern Africa. However, with a much
more organised national and international response the death toll has been far lower and famine was declared only
in parts of war-torn Somalia.
Families of victims of the Red Terror were ordered to pay for the cost of the bullet that
killed their relatives before the victim's body was returned. Anyone who was suspected of
being opposed to the Derg was liable to arrest or execution. At the height of the Red Ter-
ror, the general secretary of Save The Children stated: '1000 children have been killed and
their bodies are left in the street and are being eaten by wild hyenas. You can see the
heaped-up bodies of murdered children, most of them aged 11 to 13, lying in the gutter, as
you drive out of Addis Ababa'.
