10/01/2022
As a follow up to its statement of the 25th of August 2022 condemning the outbreak of new hostilities in Tigray region of Ethiopia, Eritrean Research Institute for Policy and strategy (ERIPS) is deeply saddened by the aerial bombardment and heavy artillery shelling of civilians and civilian infrastructure in Tigray. It is particularly shocked by the recent attacks on civilians at Adi-Daero and its environs. Such attacks cause large scale death, displacement, and destruction. ERIPS strongly condemns attacks on civilians irrespective of the perpetrators.
The people of Tigray, as well as Eritrean refugees who live there have been under a complete siege for most part of the last two years. Since the start of the conflict in November 2020, the people of Tigray and the Eritrean refugees there has been subjected to grave atrocities committed by the Federal Government of Ethiopia and its allies of the Eritrean regime and Amhara regional government and its militias. The current attacks on civilians will compound the already fragile humanitarian situation in Tigray and the neighboring regions. The conflict also risks spreading to the neighboring countries.
Both the regimes in Ethiopia and Eritrea have very little regard for human lives. Both regimes are sending elderly and underage children to the battle front. We are particularly concerned by the continued involvement of the Eritrean regime in the ongoing civil war in Ethiopia. The regime has become a center of instability in the region. This is contrary to the wishes of the Eritrean people who are victims of the regime at home. The Eritrean people aspire to live in peace within themselves and with their neighbors. Hence, the Eritrean regime should withdraw its troops form any and all parts of Ethiopia and especially from the current war in Tigray and should not participate in any activity that exacerbates the civil war in Ethiopia.
ERIPS, as an Eritrean organization that advocates for peace and security, justice, stability, cooperation, and partnerships among the countries of the Horn Africa, reiterates its condemnation of attacks on civilians.
ERIPS calls on the international community to exert maximum pressure to stop the war and bring a peaceful end to the conflict. We also call on the protection of Eritrean refugees who live in the conflict zone.