A young woman who sought asylum in Belgium after fleeing the Tigray conflict in northern Ethiopia has finished second in the Miss Black Belgium 2023 beauty contest.
Rahwa Kinfe has told the BBC that she was proud to introduce Tigrayan culture and values in the international arena.
“I was very happy to participate when I learned that it is a great forum where I can speak out about the sexual violence against our mothers and sisters in Tigray,” she said.
Ms Rahwa said most contestants represented their country in the competition but she did not. She says she was allowed to instead represent her region, Tigray, after telling the organisers that it had its own flag, culture and history.
Many young Tigrayans, including Ms Rahwa, have developed a strong sense of Tigrayan identity as a result of the two-year civil war.
“Many people don’t know what happened in Tigray,” she said, adding that she was happy to be able to speak out about the abuses committed against women in Tigray during the bloody war which started in November 2020.
Both sides were accused of atrocities, include ethnic cleansing and sexual violence.
The war, which ended in November last year following the signing of a peace deal between the federal government and Tigray leadership, caused the deaths of an estimated half a million civilians in the region.
Many women and girls were subjected to rape and sexual violence during the conflict, which were documented by human rights groups.
Rahwa, who went to Belgium in March last year, was born and raised in the historic city of Aksum, Tigray.
She had worked as an air hostess for the national airline for five years. She says she and many other Tigrayans then living in the capital Addis Ababa and other cities were arrested “because of our identity” after the outbreak of the civil war.
“Many of my friends were arrested, and we had no way out. When I was released, I came to Belgium to save my life,” she told the BBC.
She says the competition has opened up other opportunities. She says she was offered a “Golden Ticket” allowing her to compete directly in the Miss Belgium pageant.