PRESS RELEASE
Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change Calls for Secession of Hostilities in Northern Ethiopia
October 19, 2022
The Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change (ENCDC) joins the growing voices of the international community and calls for the immediate secession of hostilities in Northern Ethiopia and the start of peace negotiations between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the Regional Government of Tigray. We also join the international community to request that Eritrean troops immediately and fully withdraw from the Ethiopian territory. Equally, we demand that Ethiopian forces that entered Eritrean territory to launch war against Tigray, withdraw from Eritrean territory immediately.
The tremendous human cost including the horrendous suffering of millions of innocent women and children due to the escalating war in Northern Ethiopia is causing great concerns to us as is to the international community.
UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on his October 17, 2022, press conference; the Chair of African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, on October 16, 2022; a joint statement by six major western countries, including US, UK, Germany, Australia, Denmark, and the Netherlands, on October 12, 2022; and many other countries and humanitarian agencies have called for “an immediate, unconditional ceasefire,” and to “allow for unhindered and sustained humanitarian access, and pursue a negotiated settlement through peace talks under an African Union-led process.” They also “call on Eritrean forces to cease their military operations and withdraw from northern Ethiopia.”
From the start of the conflict in Northern Ethiopia, ENCDC has been calling on the parties to resolve their differences through negotiations and demanding that the Eritrean regime ceases its interventions in the war and withdraws its troops from Ethiopian territory. Thus, we unequivocally support the above statements by the international community.
The dictatorial regime of Eritrea continues to cause great damage to Eritrea and the Eritrean society. The regime has been conducting general mobilization of Eritreans by forcibly taking all able and unable bodies to the military to fight in the war in Northern Ethiopia. Furthermore, the regime has been arresting anyone that utters a word against the government or its mobilization actions. The arrest of the Catholic Bishop of Segenayti, Abune Fikremariam Hagos on October 15, 2022, is one such actions by the regime. We condemn the regime for the arrest of our great Bishop Abune Fikremariam and we demand his immediate release.
The Isaias Afewerki regime has been a menace to its people as well as to the whole world. The peace-loving nations and people of the world should provide earnest assistance to the Eritrean people and the ENCDC in their struggle to bring an end to this dictatorial regime.
ENCDC Office of Foreign Relations and Humanitarian Affairs
October 19, 2022
