Harming those doing good? The role of anti-aid rhetoric in explaining aid worker attacks

Abstract

Aid workers providing humanitarian assistance are commonly deployed to conflict-affected areas, however aid workers are increasingly finding themselves as targets of violent, and often deadly, attacks. Recent data has shown that major incidents toward aid workers have increased every year, yet there is little understanding as to why these attacks occur. I argue that in some contexts, aid is increasingly politicized, fueling division that regularly leaves humanitarian aid workers in the crossfire. In these contexts, marked anti-aid rhetoric flourishes, driven in part by a perception of helping “the other.” Using the case of Ethiopia, and particularly the Tigrai region, I show that aid workers have been targeted while delivering aid due to a history of politicizing aid and divisive conflict between Ethiopia’s ethnic groups. This has contributed to a rhetoric that humanitarian aid providers are aiding and abetting other groups considered the “enemy.” By shedding light on this alarming trend, this article aims to enhance our understanding of attacks on humanitarian staff.

Notes

1 See Zürcher (2017) for a comprehensive literature review.

2 It is also important to note that the perpetrators of these attacks are sometimes fellow aid workers. These incidents (with the exception of sexual harassment) are recorded in AWSD when perpetrator information is available. In Ethiopia, only one incident of an aid worker attacked by a fellow staff member was recorded over the past 6 years.

3 It is important to note that aid workers have been involved in attacks in Ukraine, however there have been very few incidents that appear to be intentionally targeted.

4 It should be noted that I rely on English translations of sources published in Tigrinya or Amharic so I cannot guarantee accurate translations. I recognize this limitation, but have tried to mitigate by locating multiple sources that express the same sentiment.

5 It is important to recognize the possible bias in these reports. A study by the European Institute of Peace found that local media was biased towards the narrative of the Ethiopian government and their allies, however international media was biased towards the narrative of the TPLF (Tofa et al., 2022).

6 One example is this video posted to Youtube by the government-affiliated Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkcLrY0rgHI&t=2678s&ab_channel=EBC.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hatti Sellers

Hatti Sellers is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at Louisiana State University. She works in the field of international relations, primarily focusing on the gendered dynamics of conflict. Other research interests include the targeting of humanitarian aid workers, the use of sexual violence during conflict, and how conflict dynamics can shape post-conflict gender norms.