“It is our responsibility to help Ethiopia”

“Eritrea is providing assistance to Ethiopia in accordance with its obligations,” Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki said in an interview with government media.

What are Eritrea’s obligations to Ethiopia?

The president publicly acknowledged for the first time Eritrea’s involvement in Ethiopia’s Tigray war. The conflict in the Tigray region began on November 4, 2020.

Eritrea’s involvement in the conflict is a “secret” to its own people, but the world knows about the activities of Eritrean soldiers in the region. Both Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have repeatedly denied that Eritrean troops are stationed in Tigray.

In the interview, he said: “We Eritreans have experienced 80 years of tension compared to other countries in the region. We care more about peace and stability in Ethiopia than other countries.” The president did not elaborate on the type of obligations he was referring to.

Explaining his recognition of Eritrea’s role in Ethiopia’s domestic affairs, he said “we are doing our best to contribute to the situation in Ethiopia.”

Likewise, he did not specify what kind of contribution Eritrea had made. The world media has been talking about the violence committed by federal troops and Eritrean soldiers on the ground. The looting and destruction by Eritrean soldiers was witnessed by many Tigrayans and widely reported by international media.

The president made no mention of the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray when he announced the end of the attack.On November 28, the Ethiopian government announced that it had taken control of the city of Mekelle, ending the “final phase of the law enforcement operation.”

We should remember what the president said in early 2020: “When problems that concern us occur in Ethiopia, we will not sit back and do nothing.”

The United States and the European Union have been demanding that Eritrea withdraw its troops from Ethiopia, and some Ethiopian officials have even boldly revealed that Eritrean troops are stationed in Tigray.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission reported on the destruction of Eritrean refugee camps in the Tigray region, namely Shimelba and Hetsats camps. The report also stated that the refugees in both camps had been dispersed.

In addition, regarding the conflict that broke out in Tigray, the president believed that it was “complete madness” for the TPLF (Tigray Armed Forces) to invade the Northern Command and trigger the conflict.

Friction between the federal government and the Tigray region over political and constitutional disputes has been going on for some time. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that on the evening of November 3, Tigray security forces attacked the Northern Command stationed in Tigray, escalating tensions into open hostility.

According to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the Northern Command’s incursion was aimed at preventing federal troops from taking over the region.

It has been widely reported that two million people have been displaced in the region as a result of the conflict, with more than 60,000 people leaving Tigray for Sudan.

The United Nations reports that some 4.5 million people in the region are in need of emergency assistance.

More from the President

President Isaias Afwerki said that during the opening of the Omhajer checkpoint, he asked the Tigray regional chairman, Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael, why they were assembling unnecessary military forces in the region.

However, Dr. Debrezion said at the time that they would meet again soon, but did not reveal what they would discuss at the meeting.

President Isaias also accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front of hindering the newly established relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea and obstructing the demarcation of the border. He did not elaborate on how the Tigray leaders were obstructing the peace deal and obstructing the demarcation of the border. Instead, Dr. Debretsion said he held talks with President Isaias Afwerki on opening the entire Tigray-Eritrea border.

On the other hand, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front has been criticizing the July 2018 peace deal for marginalizing Tigray and limiting the talks to between President Isaias and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The president has yet to clarify whether the disputed Badme region is currently under the control of Eritrean troops, and the interviewer was apparently afraid to ask the question.

He also said that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the problems that have arisen between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt, and the border frictions between Ethiopia and Sudan should be resolved as a priority. He mentioned that the frictions have intensified due to the interference of foreign entities and are related to some internal political interests. He again expressed his criticism in a vague way.

The interview raised more questions than ever before. The president acknowledged what people had long known — that Eritrean troops played a major role in the destruction of Tigray.

Eritreans want to know the moral justification of the war, the losses incurred by the Eritrean army and how to heal the blood feud with the Tigrayans.