The US State Department announced today it will enforce visa restrictions on the leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) amid a flare in tensions stoking fears about a return to conflict in northern Ethiopia.
"Rising tensions between Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) hardliners and the Ethiopian government have threatened to reignite the conflict in northern Ethiopia and undermine peace and security across the entire region," reads a statement issued by the US government earlier today.
It notes that military forces loyal to the TPLF, referred to in the statement as the "Tigray Security Forces," were involved in direct engagements with the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) earlier this year, jeopardizing the fragile peace that has been in northern Ethiopia since the end of the two-year war in November 2022.
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In response, the US State Department, led by Marco Rubio, says it is imposing visa restrictions on hardline members of the TPLF and their immediate family members.
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"This visa restriction policy targets individuals who are responsible for, or complicit in, undermining resolution to the crisis in the Tigray region," reads the statement.
Last week, the TPLF and the unilaterally reinstated Tigray regional council unveiled plans to introduce a piece of legislation that regional opposition parties and rights advocates characterized as "a blueprint for totalitarian control."
The draft legislation seeks to impose mandatory mobilization, expand security powers, establish a new media regulatory regime, and create a central command structure headed by the regional president, as political actors increasingly warn of escalating tensions in Tigray.
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The US State Department noted that hundreds of thousands of civilians have already fled their homes across northern Ethiopia for fear of a return to conflict.
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