Patching things up with the EU

and resumption of food aid to refugees

Oct 09, 2023

Hi,

My name is Maya Misikir. I am a freelance reporter and I run Sifter - this weekly newsletter that brings you the top 5 news items in Ethiopia. Old time subscribers will be surprised to see this email in their inbox before midnight this week; what can I say, I’m really on top of things today.

If you like what you read and think there’s someone else that could benefit from a quick summary of what is happening in Ethiopia, please share and spread the word.

Now, to the news.

Foreign policy: is the EU warming up to Ethiopia?

After the start of war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, there was a lot of international pressure to end it. Because of this, the Ethiopian government’s relationship with many countries and institutions soured. For instance, the U.S. imposed sanctions in the form of visa restrictions at the time, and the European Union (EU) suspended budgetary support of about 88 million Euros.

Last week, the EU’s Commissioner for International Relations was in Ethiopia, and during that visit announced an agreement for 650 million Euros in support. This is not part of the direct budgetary support the EU used to provide Ethiopia but a small part of a 1 billion Euro aid package that was paused when war started.

Here’s an excerpt from a story I did for VOA:

“Asked about the relationship between the EU and Ethiopia, the commissioner said money was part of a gradual process.
“We have a gradual approach, and now I think one step has been taken forward after this day, because we are able to sign this MIP,” said Urpilainen.”

What about direct budgetary support?

Here’s an excerpt from a story on the Washington Post on that:

“However, direct budgetary support to Ethiopia’s government remains suspended and will not be restored until “very clear political conditions” are met, Urpilainen said without specifying.
She added that a program from the International Monetary Fund was also needed first.”

The full story on VOA here and The Washington Post here.

Human rights: somebody won this fight

A lot of you are aware of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE). This was the Commission set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate rights violations during the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. (This is not to be confused with the Commission of Inquiry, which was set up by the African Union and dissolved after two years with no reports on its work or observation.)

The UN’s International Commission was initially set up for one year, in December 2021. When it’s mandate was about to expire, it got renewed because the investigators needed more time (due to reasons like the Ethiopian government not co-operating with the investigations and denying access to locations).

The Commission released a damning report right before its mandate was extended. In this initial finding, it said there were grounds to believe that extrajudicial killings, rape, sexual violence, and starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare had taken place in Tigray. The report also said that both warring sides have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Part of the response of the Ethiopian government to this was saying that it was a politically motivated report and to try and get the Commission’s mandate to be cut short.

There was a lot of outcry on this move by the Ethiopian government – 63 civil society organizations and human rights organizations wrote to the UN’s Human Rights Council opposing it and re-iterating the importance of the Commission’s work.

It now looks like the Commission’s mandate will not be continued despite many calls to do so.

Here’s an excerpt from a story on The Guardian:

“Mohamed Chande Othman, the chair of the UN investigation, said: “Our report shows that the overwhelming majority of risk factors for future atrocity crimes are present in Ethiopia, including ongoing serious violations, widespread violence and instability, and deeply entrenched impunity.”

What was the Ethiopian government response on this?

Here’s an excerpt from another story in Reuters:

“Asked for comment on Wednesday, Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu responded by text message: "This is the end of (ICHREE's) history (in) Ethiopia." He later added: "There is no need to talk about a dead end."

The full story on The Guardian here and Reuters here.

Aid: refugees get priority

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an update on the impacts of pausing food aid in Ethiopia. You can go here for more context on that but the update talked about how food aid suspension was badly affecting refugee and internally displaced communities in the country. Food aid was paused by both the UN’s World Food Program and USAID (Ethiopia’s largest food aid donor) earlier this year after an investigation revealed that the food was being stolen and sold on markets.

Last week, USAID announced it has re-started food support to refugee populations after, ‘reforms to Ethiopia’s refugee food assistance structure.’

So, what exactly are these reforms (that ensure food doesn’t get stolen and sold off)? Here’s an excerpt from the USAID announcement:

“Reforms put in place strengthen program monitoring and oversight, reinforce commodity tracking, and improve beneficiary registration processes. In addition, the Ethiopian government has transferred responsibility for dispatch, warehousing, and distribution of refugee food aid to our implementing partners.”

In short, the Ethiopian government is no longer in charge of selecting who gets food.

Here’s another excerpt from a story in the Associated Press (AP):

Food aid will be restored to roughly 1 million refugees from Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and elsewhere.”

The full story on AP here and the announcement from USAID here.

Investigation: Nigerians are dying in Ethiopian prisons

Last month, reports came out on the death of Nigerian inmates in Ethiopian prisons. Sahara Reporters came out with a story that said that two Nigerians who were being held in Ethiopian prisons passed away; one from poor medication and another as a result of physical abuse from prison guards.

Now, the same publication has come out with a story saying that the Nigerian inmates are facing very tough conditions in prison because prison administration had gotten wind of the fact that they spoke to media about what was happening in there.

Here’s an excerpt from the story:

“It has been very brutal for some days now; Ethiopian police have been beaten us, Nigerian inmates, accusing us of embarrassing the country.
“This followed the reports we have been giving to SaharaReporters about the death of our people, video of Dr Ezike and even our embassy here. They claimed we have been embarrassing them internationally as we are not the only foreign nationals over here.

Following this, the Nigerian senate has decided to investigate the incarceration of 250 Nigerians in Ethiopian prisons. Here’s an excerpt on that from The Premium Times Nigeria:

“The Senate on Wednesday directed its Committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of 250 Nigerians in the Republic of Ethiopia.
The Senate also mandated the committees to report their findings back to the Senate within two weeks.”

The full story on Sahara Reporters here and The Premium Times Nigeria here.

Labor rights: more protection on the way, hopefully

There’s a new law under revision that could potentially offer more protection for workers in Ethiopia. The Ministry of Labour and Skills is working on adding 25 more instances on the list of occupational hazards that workers can claim compensation for in Ethiopia.

Here’s an excerpt from a story in Addis Fortune:

“The updated list includes injuries and diseases induced by chemical, physical, and biological agents, respiratory, skin and musculoskeletal diseases, along with mental and behavioural issues.
While the risk of affording claims and overreporting are issues, employers represented through the Confederation of Ethiopian Employers Association (CEEA) have received the pending reforms with open arms.”

A representative of the employers association thinks that these new additions bring clarity to both sides as that is a major cause of disputes over compensation.

The full story on Addis Fortune here.

Was this forwarded to you by someone? Then hit the button below to subscribe and get free weekly updates.

That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!

In the meantime, you can help support my work by forwarding this email to friends and family who might benefit from keeping up with what’s going on.

Sifter