Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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We have been following the situation in Ethiopia closely, and with concern, since the declaration of a state of emergency in October last. Ireland and Ethiopia have developed a strong bilateral relationship since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1994. Ethiopia is one of Ireland’s key partner countries for development cooperation, and we have developed strong political and economic relations. We provided over €29 million through our bilateral development programme to Ethiopia in 2016. Ireland’s humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia amounted to a further €6.65 million in 2016.

Our Embassy in Addis Ababa has been monitoring the situation closely since public demonstrations and protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions took place in late 2015. The protests grew in scope and scale throughout 2016 and culminated in violent clashes between protestors and security forces. Following an incident resulting in the deaths of at least 52 protesters, the Ethiopian Government declared a state of emergency on 9 October 2016. While it appears to have restored calm to the regions where protests took place, this has been accompanied by worrying reports regarding the high levels of detention and a tense human rights environment.

Our Embassy in Addis Ababa engages regularly with the Ethiopian Government to express our concern at these political developments, and to encourage the Government to address the underlying causes of discontent. Ireland, with our EU partners, will continue this active dialogue with the Ethiopian Government and will continue to encourage the Government to engage with civil society and other political actors in Ethiopia.

Ireland has also raised concerns relating to the state of emergency at the Human Rights Council on 15 March 2017, expressing concern at the large number of arrests and detention of protestors. This followed our statement at the Human Rights Council in September 2016, supporting the call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for an independent, impartial and international human rights assessment of the Government’s response to the protests which led to the introduction of the state of emergency. The EU has also engaged with the Ethiopian Government and raised concerns. The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms. Federica Mogherini, spoke with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister in October 2016 and expressed her concern about the possible effect on democratic principles and civil rights of Ethiopian citizens.

On the 15 March, the Government of Ethiopia announced that there would be a partial lifting of the state of emergency, stating that arrests without court orders and searches without court papers will stop. The Government also announced that restrictions imposed on radio, television and theatre and dawn-to dusk prohibitions on unauthorised movements around infrastructure facilities and factories have been repealed.

Our Embassy in Addis Ababa will continue to monitor the situation closely, and engage regularly with the Ethiopian Government.