The United States has announced visa restrictions targeting individuals it says are undermining peace efforts in Ethiopia, with the measures focused on hardline members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and their immediate family members.
The US State Department said the restrictions were introduced in response to rising tensions between TPLF hardliners and the Ethiopian government, warning that renewed confrontation could threaten stability in northern Ethiopia and the wider region.
“Rising tensions between Tigray People’s Liberation Front hardliners and the Ethiopian government have threatened to reignite the conflict in northern Ethiopia and undermine peace and security across the entire region,” the State Department said in a statement.
Washington said the policy targets people it considers responsible for, or complicit in, actions that are obstructing efforts to resolve the crisis in the Tigray region.
The announcement follows renewed tensions after clashes between TPLF forces and Ethiopian government troops earlier this year.
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The TPLF, which dominated Ethiopia’s politics for nearly three decades before losing federal power, regained control of Tigray’s regional political administration in May after restoring a legislative council that existed before the 2020-2022 civil war.
The party said the council elected TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremichael as regional president, a move that has heightened tensions with the federal government.
The Ethiopian government and the TPLF signed a peace agreement in 2022 that ended a brutal two-year conflict in Tigray.
The war, which involved Ethiopian federal forces, Tigrayan fighters and troops from neighbouring Eritrea, was among the deadliest conflicts of the 21st century.
Researchers estimate hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of fighting, the collapse of healthcare systems, hunger and famine conditions during the conflict.
The United States said the visa restrictions are part of broader efforts to support peace, stability and accountability in Ethiopia.
The measures do not amount to sanctions but limit travel to the United States for individuals identified under the policy.
