Borkena
Toronto – Well over a month after reports emerged (Borkena covered the story) about possible visa restrictions and an asset freeze, the U.S. Department of State on Wednesday announced visa restrictions on key TPLF leaders and their family members.
The measure is intended to deter TPLF leaders from starting another conflict. Days after the 7th Ethiopian General Election, which many opposition parties and activists rejected as a sham, TPLF leader, Debretsion Gebremichael ,openly stated that “a devastating outbreak of war” was coming.
U.S. diplomats in Addis Ababa, including the military attaché, met with TPLF leaders in Mekelle in late April this year. It was an effort to convince TPLF leaders to avoid another conflict, which the United States and its Western allies see as a security threat to the entire Horn of Africa region. A little later, the European Union also released a statement expressing about rising tension in the region and calling for an effort to avert another conflict.
The announcement from the U.S. State Department noted that 600,000 people were killed during the conflict between 2020 and 2022, which ended with the signing of the Pretoria Agreement.
This time, the statement made reference to “Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) hardliners.”
“Rising tensions between Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) hardliners and the Ethiopian government have threatened to reignite the conflict in northern Ethiopia and undermine peace and security across the entire region,” it said.
It went on to say:
“Today, pursuant to his authority under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Secretary Rubio is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on hardline members of the TPLF and their immediate family members. This visa restriction policy targets individuals who are responsible for, or complicit in, undermining resolution to the crisis in the Tigray region.”
An asset freeze as a policy measure was not cited in the press statement. However, it was explicit enough that the U.S. is considering other measures as well.
“We will continue to use all tools available to expose and promote accountability for TPLF officials and other individuals who threaten that peace and stability in the region,” it said.
The TPLF has formed a military and political alliance with the Eritrean government, which has recently been, according to reports, holding a series of talks with the United States government to improve relations.
The Ethiopian federal government carried out a drone strike on June 8 in the Sheraro area of Tigray, along the border with Eritrea. The TPLF has confirmed the strike. According to sources close to the Ethiopian government, about 12 truckloads of TPLF troops were destroyed in the operation. Pro-TPLF sources did not provide specific figures on casualties but confirmed that the damage was significant.
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The next move should be putting Debre and every one of his inner circle thugs on a wanted list. Such listing should eventually be extended to all others who shun the dialogue table and choose the violent ways. The EU should take the same step and put all these hoodlums on notice and cease all their financial assets. Someone recently told me that Debre had made an arrangement for his children to move to the USA or be born in the USA many years ago when he was one of the top government officials. But he has been sending other’s children to awaiting infernos. This is the predicament those noble and upright people of Tigray have been subjected to since the 1970’s.
The regional power Tigray will continue to work with the US and other powers interested in promoting peace and stability in Ethiopia and the region as a whole. Tigray will keep open all the channesls for diplomacy and dialoge and its id reasonable to hope that these selective visa restrictions will not affect the long standing and good relations between it and the US. Tigray with its first class diplomats will resolve all the issues that concern its bilateral relations with the US.