Addis Abeba – The interim administration of the Tigray region has issued a statement conveying apprehensions regarding perceived actions by the Amhara regional government to incorporate “Tigray lands into its educational curriculum and regional maps,” asserting them as its own.
In a statement issued today, the Interim Administration leveled allegations against the Amhara regional administration, characterizing its actions as “irresponsible” and asserting that they signify an ongoing “campaign to disintegrate and destroy Tigray.”
The statement issued by the interim administration alleges that instead of showing remorse for “perpetrating violence and suffering against the people of Tigray” in areas under its control through force, the Amhara regional administration is making “historical mistakes” with potentially serious consequences. The interim administration has demanded an “immediate correction” of these actions.
The Tigray Interim Administration also criticized the federal government for failing to take necessary measures against what it considers to be “irresponsible” actions by the Amhara regional government.
The statement further asserted that “while the people of Tigray and the interim administration are working to ensure peace and stability” by implementing the Pretoria agreement, the Amhara region’s actions are seen as a “deliberate offense to disrupt the peace process.”
The interim administration has issued a call to the populace of the Amhara region and fellow Ethiopians, urging solidarity with the people of Tigray and the interim administration to cease the purported violence and abuse perpetrated by the Amhara regional government.
The statement concluded with a cautionary note, suggesting that failure to act upon this request would hold the Amhara region accountable for ensuing consequences.
The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community released on 11 March warned that despite the Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) signed in November 2022 between the Ethiopian Government and the Tigrayans that ended a two-year war, the “unresolved territorial issues could lead to a resumption of conflict.”
The threat assessment was issued despite plans announced by the Minister of Defense, Abraham Belay, stating the federal government’s strategies to address the status of western Tigray, presently under the control of Amhara forces.
Abraham stated that “federal forces will maintain authority over these regions to facilitate the repatriation process and to allow residents to hold local elections upon their return.”
He further elaborated that this initiative is geared towards “laying the groundwork for a referendum, aimed at conclusively resolving the territorial dispute.”
Previously, the federal government has outlined a proposal to “hold a referendum” to resolve the status of the occupied western and parts of southern Tigray region; but Tigray’s interim administration highlighted the importance of adhering to the constitutional process as delineated in the Pretoria CoHA. Furthermore, Tigrayan authorities reject plans for referendum after “a substantial influx of settlers has transpired” especially in western Tigray, and accused federal institutions of being “actively involved in demographic modifications.”
“The feasibility of conducting a referendum is unattainable,” Getachew Reda, Tigray Interim Administration President, said. AS
