Conflict in Tigray: Washington suspends part of its financial aid to Ethiopia
Tigray conflict in Ethiopia: militiamen from the Amhara region on their way to the front to fight the Tigrayan TPLF, November 9, 2020. (Illustrative image) REUTERS / Tiksa Negeri /
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2 min
The United States has decided to suspend part of its financial assistance to Ethiopia as serious accusations of human rights violations hang over the Ethiopian authorities.
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With our correspondent in Addis Ababa
,
Noé Hochet-Bodin
The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been waging a war in the dissident province of Tigray for 3 months, creating at the same time a humanitarian disaster.
After the European Union
, it is the United States' turn to put financial pressure on the authorities in Addis Ababa.
This is the first strong decision of the new Biden administration since the start of the war in Tigray.
We are talking about an amount of $ 272 million in aid, not canceled, but suspended.
It is therefore not a financial sanction but rather a warning, which is in reality only a continuation of a policy of the Trump administration.
Indeed, last August, the former president
had already suspended this aid
to punish the attitude of Addis Ababa in the negotiations on the Renaissance dam and the sharing of the waters of the Nile.
Still, the State Department said Friday that this suspension is no longer linked to the dam, but indeed to recent developments in the country.
Between the lines, we understand that this is Tigray.
The United States is calling for an end to the fighting, negotiations, and free access for humanitarian workers.
Addi Ababa turning a deaf ear so far, it seems that the Biden administration has shifted into high gear by citing the financial threat.
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