who's going to lead Tigray?
and a new border crisis
Hi there,
Remember the joy before the rules. This is the statement at the heart of Zion Yaynu’s latest art exhibition, ‘Scribble’. I went to see the exhibition, located at Studio 11 last month, and it’s a collection of canvases that she layered ‘acrylic, oil paint, and crayon’ on in an ‘unrestrained dance of movement and color’ as she put it.
If you’re in Addis, I highly suggest you go check it out – it’s open until the 7th of April. As you look through all the pieces, try to ‘resist the urge to analyze or decipher hidden meaning’. It’s okay that you don’t get it, you’re not meant to!
My name is Maya Misikir, and I’m a freelance reporter based in Addis Abeba. I write Sifter, this newsletter where I send out the week’s top 5 stories on human rights and news in Ethiopia.
Now, to the news.
Tigray: new leader awaiting appointment
In last week’s edition, I wrote highlights from the prime minister’s address to parliament on the federal government’s half-year performance report.
In that address, he mentioned a possible change in leadership of Ethiopia’s Tigray Region. The term of the region’s interim administration would also be extended for another year, until Tigray can hold elections, he had announced.
Last Wednesday, the prime minister confirmed this change in the head of the region’s administration, calling for the people in the region to participate in nominating a new president.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s main party, says this is a violation of the Pretoria peace deal. The peace deal was signed between the federal government and the TPLF in November 2022, ending the two-year-long Tigray war.
Here’s an excerpt from a story on Addis Standard:
“…the TPLF further accused the federal government of “setting aside the spirit and content” of the agreement and making decisions “without joint discussion and understanding among the contracting parties.”
Contrary to this latest statement, during his parliamentary address, the Prime Minister had said that the federal government was in talks with political parties in Tigray, including the TPLF.
But the federal government is accused of more than going against the terms of the peace deal. Officials in the Tigray region say the federal government is ‘cutting off the supply of fuel to the region, disrupting essential services’.
Why is the nomination of a new leader for Tigray’s interim administration a big issue right now? I wrote an update on the latest political crisis unfolding in the region, here.
The full story on Addis Standard, here.
Refugees: people on both sides of the border
Just in March, over 10,000 people crossed over into Ethiopia from South Sudan. This is because ‘violence has intensified’ in many regions in South Sudan, including in Upper Nile State, which borders Ethiopia’s Gambella region.
Displacement from the violence and an outbreak of cholera on both sides of the border are ‘pushing communities to the brink’ according to Doctors Without Borders.
Here's an excerpt from the statement:
The situation is rapidly deteriorating as thousands fleeing violence in South Sudan cross the border to seek safety.
In Wanthoa Woreda, a new encampment in Burbeiye, Ethiopia has emerged almost overnight, with over 6,500 new arrivals reported by local administrators—many of them women, children, and the elderly, arriving after days of travel.
People from South Sudan are arriving in Ethiopia with ‘little more than what they can carry’, exhausted and in poor condition. With the recent cuts to funding, including USAID, both countries are facing this situation with reduced capacity to respond to the crisis.
The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has ‘sounded the alarm’ over the crisis in South Sudan: military clashes, and attacks on civilian populations, all signaling ‘a severe unraveling of the peace process’ in the country.
The full press release from the UN Commission, here, and the press release from Doctors Without Borders, here.
Security: we don’t know her (XLII)
In last week’s update, I wrote an update on intensified fighting between the federal government and the informal militia in Ethiopia’s Amhara region (the Fano).
The fighting in the region, which started in August 2023, has resulted in a rapidly growing number of people in need of urgent food assistance, according to the latest assessment by the UN.
Here's an excerpt from the latest assessment:
Screening coverage is very low, suggesting the true scale of the crisis may be even worse. Despite signs of a better harvest this year compared to last, food markets are under strain, with rising prices and a reduced availability of essential items.
There is some good news, though. Humanitarian access in the region has expanded after sustained negotiations with the UN. These areas include West Gondar, Central Gondar, South Gondar, East Gojam, West Gojam, and North Wello.
This month, health centers in the region’s Raya Kobo area have also received ‘long-awaited nutrition supplies’.
You can access the entire list of 42 updates on what’s been happening in the region since August 2023, here.
The full humanitarian update, here.
South Ethiopia: the back and forth continues
In February, I wrote an update when attackers killed 13 people in a border area between Ethiopia and Kenya, stole fishing boats, and about 500,000 fish.
Another armed confrontation in a border area in Ethiopia’s South Omo Zone ended in the death of four Ethiopians.
Locals in the area say that the attack was an act of ‘armed militants from Kenya’s Turkana County’, according to a story by Addis Standard.
Here’s an excerpt from the story on what a government representative in the area said:
‘…on the following day, Sunday, March 23, 2025, armed individuals from Turkana launched another attack in Goro Kebele, attempting to steal hundreds of cattle.
“The local community resisted, fought back, and managed to recover the livestock,” he said, adding that one Turkana individual was killed in the confrontation.
The full story on Addis Standard, here.
Labor rights: intimidation or arrest
Over 750 employees at Hawassa University in Ethiopia’s Sidama region face potential termination over their request for a salary increase. This story was reported early last month and must have fallen through the cracks with everything else that has been unfolding on the opposite end of the country.
The employees, some of whom have worked for the university for over seventeen years, said that they were facing intimidation from security forces, with some workers already arrested.
Here’s an excerpt from the story:
“When we asked why our salaries weren’t being adjusted, the administrators of the university accused us of instigating unrest and detained some of us,” he stated. “We have been working at the university for many years. How can we survive on 1,000 birr per month in today’s economy?”
This is not the first time that employees’ requests for timely salary payments and increases have been met with force and imprisonment.
In February, the Ethiopian Medical Association released a statement on how doctors in the country are not being paid their salaries, and those who have requested their rightful payments have been imprisoned.
The full story, on Addis Standard, here.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!
In the meantime, feel free to share this with anyone you think can benefit from keeping up with what’s going on in Ethiopia.
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Maya this is a terrific resource, thank you! Will share with my students. I teach at Yale and write on Middle East/ Red Sea issues, https://ethanchorin.substack.com
I don’t understand why being asked to be paid a fair wage is met with political resistance. Those poor professors and doctors! 🙈🤞🏻 fingers crossed it is resolved.