Ethiopia’s political situation keeps increasing in severity. The two biggest complaints are armed conflict and supply shortages. The violence had recently been occurring unpredictably, as the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa described it.
Because of these reasons, the U.S. recommends non-emergency officials in Ethiopia to evacuate the country. The announcement was made Friday. Concerns are that if officials still continue to stay here that there’s a possibility for communication blackouts and travel distractions.
Ethiopia has had a very rough relationship with Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
On Tuesday the country was declared a state of emergency due to rebels proximity inching in closer and closer.
However, it’s too early to take sides. According to the U.N. both sides are contributing to the violence pushing fear into Ethiopia’s citizens. Torture, death, and targeted arrests of civilians are common occurrences.
The U.S. puts their work on hold when Biden confirmed that he’s ending the U.S.’ involvement in the Ethiopia’s involvement in the African Growth and Opportunity act. Shortly after, the country was declared a do not travel state. The risk is too high to enjoy. Other countries have followed suit. Both Denmark and Italy have and are still pulling their people out, as long as flights are still going to keep hands warm.
A big problem in Ethiopia though is the living conditions. Over 900,000 people are facing hunger every night, however aid organizations have failed to reach them. These humanitarian problems are a direct result of the tension in the country.
Simultaneously the prime minister is being threatened by the United Front of Ethiopian and Confederalist Forces that they will take over sooner or later. But more people are concerned about the lack of progress in this department, when it has been a problem for 4 days.
As much as the U.S. has urged for non-official employees to move out of the country, the department has also said that, “The U.S. Embassy is unlikely to be able to assist U.S. citizens in Ethiopia with departure if commercial options become unavailable.” Should the demand to evacuate greatly increase, then no promises can be made in terms of the possibility to evacuate all the others that want to.
A problem with this conflict is that it has lead to outages. The government had restricted the Internet, cellular data, as well as phone services during times of civil unrest. This has posed a big problem for the U.S. Embassy, who was unable to provide citizens the service it so desperately needs from its country but is clearly not getting.
The U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia is still open, and has promised very little to Ethiopians.