Urgent Appeal from Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE) to Prevent Conflict and Protect Eritrea’s Territorial Integrity
Your Excellencies,
Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE) writes to express its grave concern at escalating rhetoric, military preparations, and explicit threats from the Government of Ethiopia concerning Eritrea’s sovereign territory, notably the Port of Assab.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called Ethiopia’s landlocked status a “mistake made thirty years ago” and stated it is only “a matter of time” before Ethiopia “corrects” this by regaining control of Assab. Ethiopia has re-established its navy and opened naval headquarters in Addis Ababa and a training centre in Bishoftu (September 2025), despite being landlocked.
Ethiopian military leaders have echoed this: Field Marshal Berhanu Jula told Parliament Ethiopia is “working to secure sea access” and that cooperation with Eritrea “did not work.” Major General Teshome Gemechu stated that “access to the sea is a matter of existence… you can pay any price for it.” Reports of large-scale arms imports and force mobilisation reinforce fears of a possible military operation, an illegal and destabilising act.
Grave Humanitarian Risks
A war would be catastrophic for civilians and destabilise the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is already fractured by internal conflicts, and opening a new front would overstretch its forces, deepen state collapse, and cause mass displacement, famine, and regional instability.
The peoples of both Ethiopia and Eritrea have already endured immense suffering from decades of conflict. They have paid a heavy price in lives, livelihoods, and stability, and must not be subjected to another devastating war would face airstrikes, shelling, and mass displacement. They deserve peace, security, and the opportunity to rebuild their societies—and to live peacefully as neighbours.
Peaceful Access Is the Norm
Ethiopia’s claim that being landlocked justifies seizing territory is legally and factually baseless. Sixteen African countries are landlocked yet all access the sea peacefully through agreements with neighbours, without claiming others’ territory or seeking to build sovereign naval bases on foreign soil.
Sixteen African countries are landlocked yet access the sea peacefully through agreements with neighbours, including Botswana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Eswatini, Lesotho, without claiming others’ territory or seeking naval bases on foreign soil.
Peaceful commercial access through leases, transit treaties, and port-use agreements is the international norm. Ethiopia itself already uses Djibouti’s port extensively under such agreements. Lawful agreements, not territorial conquest, are the accepted means for landlocked states to access the sea.
Violations of International and AU Law
Eritrea’s borders were internationally recognised upon independence in 1993. Any attempt by Ethiopia to seize Eritrean territory would violate:
- AU Constitutive Act Article 4(b), (4e), (4f) on respect for borders, sovereignty, and prohibition of force;
- UN Charter Article 2(4) banning the threat or use of force.
Ethiopia’s threats to “correct the mistake,” its naval build-up, and arms mobilisation amount to deliberate provocation. Such acts heighten regional tensions, risk war, and set a dangerous precedent for Africa.
HRCE’s Urgent Appeals
HRCE respectfully urges Your Excellencies to:
- Publicly reaffirm Eritrea’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including the port city of Assab.
- Condemn any threats or military preparations by Ethiopia against Eritrean territory.
- Place this matter on the AU Peace and Security Council agenda for preventive diplomacy.
- Urge Ethiopia to seek only peaceful, negotiated port access agreements, as other landlocked states do.
- Monitor and investigate Ethiopia’s large-scale arms imports and naval build-up.
Your Excellencies,
Silence in the face of these provocations risks encouraging conflict. A new war would devastate millions and destabilise the entire Horn of Africa.
We thank you for your urgent attention and commitment to upholding peace, international law, and the sovereignty of all African states.
With the highest consideration,
Elizabeth Chyrum
Director
Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE)
For the attention of:
• H.E. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson, African Union Commission
• H.E. António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations
Cc:
• H.E. Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of Ethiopia
• H.E. Mr. Jürg Lauber, President, UN Human Rights Council
