We welcome continued efforts to secure peace in Ethiopia. The war has devastated Northern Ethiopia. Thousands have been killed, tens of thousands have been injured and millions have been displaced. Public infrastructure has been destroyed and livelihoods have been stolen.
The TPLF insurgents and their allied forces are solely responsible for initiating the war in Tigray and expanding it to neighboring regions. Their motive was and continues to be to steal back power and return Ethiopia to the dark days of their authoritarian rule.
Since the conflict began the Ethiopian diaspora in the United States and around the world has worked relentlessly to tell the truth about the conflict and secure support in the country’s fight against the insurrection.
We are acutely aware of the pain the TPLF has caused in Tigray, Afar and Amhara. Their forces stand accused of using child soldiers, committing massacres, engaging in rape as a weapon of war, looting and purposefully destroying public services such as hospitals and schools.
As yet there has been no justice brought for the many victims of TPLF atrocities. Today, they are rearming their forces and it has been confirmed a new round of conscription has begun. They are preparing for a major escalation at a time when millions are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
If there is to be peace in Ethiopia there must be justice and reconciliation. AEPAC believes the following should be considered by the Ethiopian Government and the International Community:
- Ensure TPLF forces responsible for atrocities in Afar, Amhara and Tigray face the full force of the law and their victims receive recompense in order to rebuild their lives.
- The TPLF lay down their arms and end their insurgency and terrorist activities against the Ethiopian people.
- Afar and Amhara regions should receive the humanitarian focus and economic development they urgently need.
- The United States and other nations must ease sanctions and re-establish free trading benefits in order to support the entire Ethiopian economy through the coming months.
- Allow the Ethiopian people to emancipate themselves from an ethnocentric, divisive and corrupt system which has plagued the country for three decades and is the root cause of the division and suffering we see today.
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