Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 73 – 01 February 2021

Europe External Programme with Africa is a Belgium-based Centre of Expertise with in-depth knowledge, publications, and networks, specialised in issues of peace building, refugee protection and resilience in the Horn of Africa. EEPA has published extensively on issues related to movement and/or human trafficking of refugees in the Horn of Africa and on the Central Mediterranean […]

The brutal dictatorship the world keeps ignoring

The Washingtonpost | Adam Taylor | June 12, 2015 |  >>>  On Monday, the United Nations released the results of a year-long investigation into human rights in Eritrea. What it found was horrific. Detailing “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations,” the U.N. commission of inquiry argued that Eritrea was operating a totalitarian government with no accountability and no rule […]

Finnish EU envoy to investigate ‘dire’ Ethiopia war

EU Observer | The security situation in Ethiopia was “dire”, as Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto prepared to travel to the region on an EU fact-finding mission. “Nearly three months after the start of the conflict … the security situation in Tigray [a region of Ethiopia] remains dire, with reports of localised fighting especially in […]

Through Eritrea, China Quietly Makes Inroads Near the Red Sea

The Diplomat | China is finding an eager partner in Eritrea, an autocratic state generally overlooked entirely by world powers. As Iran continues to dominate headlines across the Western world, China’s far quieter quest to influence Africa and Asia has escaped the news media’s attention of late. The many examples of this Chinese strategy include […]

Militants Storm Hotel in Somali Capital and Blasts Rock Area

NYT | The authorities said there were reports of at least two dead and 11 injured at the Afrik Hotel. A militant group, the Shabab, was believed to be behind the attack. NAIROBI, Kenya — Militants with the extremist group al-Shabab stormed a major hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Sunday evening, the authorities said, […]

How War in Ethiopia Impacts Red Sea and Horn of Africa Power Politics: The Battle in Tigray and Beyond

Terrorism Monitor | Michael Horton Ethiopia is a key prize in the scramble for influence and power in the Horn of Africa and broader Red Sea region. With its natural resources, population of 110 million, and well-equipped military, Ethiopia has become an African power. The nation’s capital, Addis Ababa, moreover, hosts the African Union headquarters, and […]

Ethiopia’s Long War

London Review of Book | Maaza Mengiste I have​ a hazy childhood memory of soldiers breaking into our house. They had come to question my grandfather, who they believed was hiding someone they wanted to arrest. It was not long after the start of the 1974 revolution in Ethiopia that would depose Emperor Haile Selassie and […]

UAE: The scramble for the Horn of Africa

MEMO | The United Arab Emirates is waging a war for influence over the Horn of Africa. Since the 2011 Arab Spring the United Arab Emirates has been taking an active role in a number of hotspots from Egypt, Libya to Yemen. The Gulf nation has spent $26 billion annually on its defence budget since […]

Ethiopia accused of using ethnic profiling to target Tigrayans

Financial Times | Daughter of former PM says she was prevented from leaving country because of her heritage. The daughter of a former Ethiopian prime minister has accused the government of preventing her from leaving the country because of her Tigrayan heritage, highlighting the ethnic divisions that continue to split the nation in the wake […]

Biden Administration Faces Mounting Pressure to Act in Ethiopian Conflict

The Washington Free Bacon | Millions in peril of starvation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the State Department Thursday to demand the Biden administration take immediate action in Ethiopia to combat a humanitarian crisis that has left thousands dead. The protesters called on newly confirmed secretary of state Antony Blinken to […]