Situation in Tigray (per 12 October)

  • The ENDF and EDF have reportedly made significant progress towards the Tigrayan town of Shire. The town has been heavily bombed in recent weeks, and fighting has been reported around the city. The towns of Adi Daero and Adi kokob have reportedly been captured by the ENDF and EDF.
  • Tigray regional media, Tigrai Television, says that artillery fired by the allied forces of Ethiopia and Eritrea hit a residential area in the town of Shire on 10 October, killing two children.
  • The regional media also said another round of airstrikes was carried out on 11 October targeting the outskirts of Shire town, injuring two female civilians.
  • In a statement issued on 11 October, the Government of Tigray welcomed the extension of the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE).
  • The statement calls for means to be provided to ensure the commission can fulfil its mission.

Situation in Ethiopia (per 12 October)

  • The Italian justice ministry says that a top human trafficking suspect, 35-year-old Eritrean Temesghen Ghebru Ghebremedhin, was arrested in Ethiopia at Addis Ababa airport and was extradited to Italy on 11 October.
  • According to Tigray diaspora media Yabele Media, Hailu Kebede, foreign affairs head of opposition party Salsay Weyane Tigray was released from custody on 11 October.
  • Hailu was arrested in Addis Ababa, for the second time since the start of the war, on 29 July 2022 and was released after two months of detention.
  • Kibrom Berhe, foreign affairs chief of another opposition party, the National Congress of Great Tigray (Baytona), was also detained in Addis Ababa for three months and released last week.
  • Kibrom has been arrested three times since the government of Abiy Ahmed came to power.
  • According to the Addis Standard, Ethiopia’s electoral board declared that referendums will take place on 6 February 2023 to create a new regional state out of the Southern Nation Nationalities and Peoples region (SNNP).
  • The referendums will take place in Wolayita, Gamo, Gofa, South Omo, Gedeo, Konso zones as well as Derashe, Amaro, Burji, Ale and Basketo special districts.

Situation in Eritrea (per 12 October)

  • BBC News reports that Eritrean authorities are intensifying round ups as fighting in Ethiopia escalates.
  • Relatives have reportedly been detained to coerce people into joining the mandatory military service as all reservists under the age of 55 are being pressed into service.

Regional Situation (per 12 October)

  • South Sudanese activist and Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO) Edmund Yakani has called on President Salva Kiir to spare Ethiopia and Eritrean asylum seekers from deportation.
  • He reminded authorities preparing to return 13 people of the hospitality afforded to fleeing South Sudanese persons in 1983 and 2013.
  • Redwan Hussein, national security adviser to Ethiopia’s PM, met with Djibouti chief of intelligence, police and deputy chief of staff to assess existing border control arrangements. Djibouti is reported to have expressed ‘profound concern’ over the cross-border attacks by Afar militia.

International Situation (per 12 October)

  • The Federal Administrative Court of Germany Ruled on 11 October that Eritreans can no longer be forced to go to Eritrean embassies to get documents such as passports.
  • The court ruled that the “regret forms” that Eritreans have to sign to obtain documents, amounted to being forced to admit a criminal offence.
  • The Court ruled that it is not reasonable to subject a person in need of protection to make a statement that threatens them in the future, or their relatives still in Eritrea.
  • Dutch authorities are offering a bounty of 20.000 euros for information leading to the arrest of Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam, an alleged Eritrean human trafficking suspect known for his cruelty.
  • Kidane is on the Dutch police’s most wanted list. Lines of contact to the authorities are open. It is also possible to provide anonymous information.
  • USAID Administrator Samantha Power says the secession of hostilities in Ethiopia and retreat of Eritrean forces back across their border are key to allowing aid to reach those in need.
  • Alex de Waal, Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation, stated he believes that the poor preparations of the South Africa peace process revealed a lack of interest by the AU associated parties in ending the war in Tigray.
  • Russia’s ambassador to Eritrea has met with South Sudan’s chargé d’affaires in Asmara to discuss mediation efforts in Sudan’s crisis and the development of the situation in Tigray and Ethiopia.
  • Sudan was elected to serve a second term on the UN Human Rights Council.

Links of interest

Twitter: Government of Tigray statement on the extension of the mandate of ICHREE

Twitter: Tigrai Television

Twitter: Tigrai Television

ሓላፊ ጉዳያት ወፃኢ ሳወት ዝኾነ ሃይሉ ከበደ ሎሚ ረፋድ ካብ እሱር ተፈቲሑ: Yabele Media

Top migrant trafficking suspect caught in Ethiopia, Italy says

Electoral Board to hold Southern region referendum in February next year

South Sudan has obligations not to deport Eritrean, Ethiopian asylum seekers

Twitter:  Redwan Hussien Met and held talks with Djiboutian delegation

Eritreans hunted down as military call-up intensifies over Ethiopia’s Tigray war

Twitter: Patrick Heinisch Russia’s ambassador discusses with South Sudan’s Chargé d’Affaires

BVerwG: Eritrean ‘declarations of repentance’ are unreasonable

Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam

The African Union “Peace Talks” for Ethiopia: Unmasking the Pretense

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