Driven by a thirst for power and illicit wealth, the outlawed TPLF faction has, since its inception, treated the blood of Tigrayan youth as the ultimate currency for its survival. This ruthless syndicate has completely dismantled the social and economic fabric of the region, relentlessly perpetuating a tragic trade in human lives. By sacrificing the region's capable youth to fuel the greed and military obsessions of a select few, they have left countless mothers grieving, stripped of the children who were meant to care for them in their old age.
Through an aggressive campaign of forced conscription, this destructive force continues to feed the region's vulnerable youth into the endless fires of war. Those desperate enough to evade these brutal roundups are forced into a life of constant terror, spending their days and nights hiding in forests and ravines simply to escape abduction. Families who dare to resist these ruinous decrees; those who refuse to hand their children over to a certain death, are paying an agonizing price. They face severe punishments, enduring imprisonment, physical beatings, and forced displacement from their homes and everything they own.
The most heartbreaking cruelty in all of this is the glaring hypocrisy of the faction's leadership. While these architects of chaos force the children of the poor to serve as cannon fodder, their own families live in absolute luxury in the grand cities of Europe and America, attending elite schools. While a mother in Tigray weeps tears of blood over the devastating news of her child's death, the children of these leaders live lavishly in the West, bankrolled by stolen public wealth.
Meanwhile, during this very same season, young people across the rest of Ethiopia are seizing a golden opportunity to build a brighter future. Through the sweeping national initiative launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed—initially the "Five Million Ethiopian Coders" program, which has now expanded to reach seven million,.youth nationwide are stepping into the future. They are taking full advantage of free training in web programming, data science, and artificial intelligence, boldly claiming their place in the modern world.
Tragically, the youth of Tigray remain held hostage by this destructive faction, completely cut off from this technological revolution and condemned instead to walk in the shadow of war. This anti-people group has deliberately isolated them from the digital age and the march of civilization, turning places of learning into military camps. Even today, they exploit the immense suffering of their own people, using it as leverage for political gambling and the lucrative business of international aid.
Just as they did during the devastating famine of the mid-1980s; when they diverted and sold relief grain, leaving the population to starve, they have once again engineered a crisis to make the society entirely dependent on aid. This calculated deprivation is steering the future of the region down a profoundly tragic path.
Ultimately, the people of Tigray and their youth must shake off this parasitic force that is actively destroying a generation. It is time for them to step out of the darkness and onto a brighter path, claiming their rightful share of peace, education, and development alongside their fellow Ethiopians.
