Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, has ordered the military to confront the Tigrayan regional government because, he says, it attacked a military base; he has also cited months of “provocation and incitement”. Heavy fighting is reported to have broken out in Tigray —the Northernmost of 9 regional states of Ethiopia– on Wednesday 4^th November 2020. The Federal Government has now declared a 6-month State of Emergency in Tigray, to be overseen by the Armed Forces. 

Tigrayans dominated Ethiopian politics after 1991, but their influence has waned under Abiy Ahmed. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had played a major role in Ethiopia’s governing coalition before Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018 and announced sweeping political reforms. Last year, the TPLF quit his ruling coalition. Since 2018, many senior Tigrayan officials have been dismissed and detained in what the federal government describes as a clamp-down on corruption but Tigrayans see as a means to quell dissent.

Tigrayan officials objected to the postponement (due to the coronavirus pandemic) of Ethiopia’s national elections, which were to take place in August, and the consequent extension of Mr. Abiy Ahmed’s time in office. In September, Tigray held elections, in defiance of the Federal Government, which called the vote “illegal”. The TPLF warned at the time that an intervention by the federal government would amount to a declaration of war.

Both sides accuse each other of plotting a military conflict. The Ethiopian government accuses the TPLF of arming and organizing irregular militias. Mr Abiy’s office reported on Wednesday that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had tried to steal artillery and other equipment from Federal forces stationed in Tigray. The TPLF said the Northern Command of the Federal Military had defected to its side; but Mr. Abiy’s spokesman dismissed the claim as untrue.

A state of emergency has been declared in Tigray, and all the transportation in and out of the region has been banned. There are no telephone and internet services. 

It is important to note that there is a vital Eritrean dimension to this dispute: Ethiopia currently hosts 171,876 Eritrean refugees, most of them in camps in the Tigray region. According to the UNHCR, 44% of Eritrean refugees in the Tigray refugee camps are aged under 18. Many of these young people have fled Eritrea to avoid the never-ending compulsory National Service in the military or enforced slave labour in mining or agriculture.

It is well known that President Afewerki of Eritrea urgently wants to recapture all these refugees, whom he says have left the country illegally (because Eritreans are prohibited from exercising their internationally-established human right to leave their country). Ethiopia has been planning the closure of at least one of the refugee camps, possibly in response to pressure from the President of Eritrea. 

It is reported that the Eritrean leader, Isaias Afwerki, was in Ethiopia for a three-day official visit recently. It is suspected that he and Abiy Ahmed may have discussed the military situation in Tigray and planned action against the TPLF. The Eritrean government has been extensively rounding up youth from the streets, homes, schools and workplaces, without giving them time to collect clothes and many other essentials, including medication. It is suspected that Isaias Afwerki may be planning to join the war against the Tigrayan Regional Government. 

Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRCE) cannot view the current events as anything other than hugely dangerous for both the population of Tigray and all Eritreans residing in Tigray. Elizabeth Chyrum, Director of HRCE, commented: –  

• “We condemn the start of this regional war; it is not an acceptable way to solve disputed issues and constitutional problems.
• We condemn the extensive rounding up of young people in Eritrea, and we must express an urgent warning to the Eritrean government not to join in the war in Tigray and not to send any Eritreans to the war zone.
• HRCE wishes to express its vital concerns about the safety and wellbeing of all Eritrean refugees in Tigray and Ethiopia. There is a very real danger that Eritrean refugees may become pawns and victims in this regional Ethiopian crisis, and that they might be driven out of their UN-backed camps and be forced back to Eritrea, where arrest, imprisonment and probably torture would almost certainly be their fate. 
• Almost all of the Eritreans in the refugee camps live on very meagre monthly rations. Their very survival is endangered. It is vital that the Ethiopian government and the Tigray Regional Government ensure their safety, guarantee protection for their camps and enable the UNHCR to provide food and all necessary services for them.
• We must appeal to all member states of the UN to put pressure on the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea to heed these warnings, and to give priority to the protection of all Eritrean refugees.”

Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE)

eritrea.facts@gmail.com

www.hrc-eritrea.org