The UK Home Office released a report in December 2024 on a fact-finding mission (FFM) conducted in Ethiopia aiming to assess the situation of Tigrayans after the November 2022 cessation of hostilities agreement. The mission sought to gather what it calls ‘accurate and current information’ from various sources through interviews regarding the country’s political, socio-economic, and humanitarian conditions affecting Tigrayans.
The FFM team conducted 13 face-to-face interviews involving 23 individuals, including representatives of non-governmental organizations, opposition party members in Tigray, UK and western diplomatic representatives in Addis Ababa, and other stakeholders. The mission outlined key areas of focus, including the political climate, the treatment of Tigrayans in Addis Ababa and Tigray, access to essential services, and the general human rights situation in the region.
Notably, the report highlighted ongoing challenges faced by Tigrayans, such as limited access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities in Tigray, Addis Ababa and other parts of the country. The human rights situation in Western Tigray (Welkait) and the complexities surrounding the return of IDPs and resettlement of Tigrayans in also discussed.
As indicated, the report is not a reflection of the official views of the UK government, it is conducted to serve as one resource for understanding the socio-political situations of Tigrayans in Ethiopia after the agreement.
While reading the report from the UK Home Office, one cannot help but suspect that it was conducted to provide context for decision-making on asylum and human rights cases involving Tigrayan-Ethiopian nationals in the UK. However, it raises legitimate concerns about the adequacy of the sample size involved in the research and the extent to which whether the interviewees accurately and correctly described the hardships Tigrayans are enduring in Ethiopia.
The full report is available on the UK government’s official website.