The scheme earned the Government millions of dollars in hard currency which they used in part to purchase Soviet weaponry and to finance the Cuban contingency based in Ethiopia. In the midst of the famine crisis. the regime spent $100 million to celebrate in lavish fashion the 10th anniversary of the revolution and the inauguration of the Workers Party of Ethiopia. Mengistus indifference to the warnings of a famine disaster led to mass deaths and starvation. Police were sent to make a human fence around the capital to prevent starving refugees from entering the city during the 4day celebration. Despite these outrageous abuses. many of the private volunteer relief workers were directed to remain silent from their organizations headquarters for fear of being expelled from the country.
Keywords matched
refugees