BY ADDISALEM MULAT
U.S President Biden appointed U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, is paying a visit to the Horn of Africa region with the Envoy meeting IGAD Workneh Gebeyehu (PhD)in Djibouti. The Special Envoy, who also visited the region before, is expected to stop in Addis Ababa to discuss the country’s current situation before departing to the United Arab Emirates. He is expected to meet senior authorities.
It is reported that the wished-for target of the special envoy is to put maximum pressure on the government of Ethiopia to sit down at the negotiating table with the terrorist Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) group and end the ongoing conflict in an atmosphere of calm. And, many Ethiopians living here and overseas are urging the envoy to follow a moderate approach and help stop his country’s meddling in the internal affairs of Ethiopia. Since the news of his planned visit broke, Ethiopians have been taking their voices to the Twitter to express their caution and warning of the U.S.’s unguided foreign policy against Ethiopia.
Particularly, those who have a well understanding of the U.S. foreign policy towards the Horn of Africa have been forwarding sharp condemnation on Washington’s external intervention in Ethiopia.
Since the law enforcement operation that took place in the Tigray State, the U.S. has been openly taking side with the TPLF, a group designated by the House of Peoples’ Representatives as a terrorist organization. To everyone’s dismay, even though the U.S. knows the existing reality on the ground, it has been turning a deaf ear on numerous occasions.
For illustrative purposes, when the terrorist group attacked the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and caused property damage and claimed lives, the U.S. remained tight-lipped. However, when Ethiopia made a start on partaking in the law enforcement operation, the United States of America kick started going hand in hand with the terrorist group.
What is worse is that the U.S. kicked off interfering in the internal affairs of the nation and has been trying to put unwarranted pressure against Ethiopia. As a sovereign nation, Ethiopia does not need foreign interference in its internal affairs.
Though what is expected of the United States of America is treating the federal government and the terrorist TPLF group in the same manner the former takes sides with the terrorist group.
Pessimistically, some international media outlets have been getting sidetracked by spreading cooked-up stories that do not reflect the existing reality on the ground time and time again. With the help of some biased right groups and humanitarian agencies, the international media organizations have played a bigger role in bewildering the international community.
The external intervention has continued to this day. And, many see Feltman’s planned visit as part of the continued foreign interference against Ethiopia in particular and the Horn of Africa in general. In fact, Ethiopia clearly understands the concerns of the U.S. and other countries, but the government and the people of Ethiopia are not ready to succumb to foreign pressure whether it comes from Washington or elsewhere.
Ethiopians based in the United States of America, have been campaigning on social media and echoing their opposition against Western interference. They have been expressing the fact that Ethiopians do not want to live under Ethiopia’s skies with the terrorist group that has been turning their lives into a living hell, and they will not be ruled by the terrorist TPLF group.
Similarly, Ethiopian Diasporas residing abroad have been rallying in various parts of the world against the stance of the United States of America in the internal affairs of Ethiopia. They have been expressing their genuine stance in various ways.
Recently, Ethiopian diaspora associations in Belgium and Ethiopian Embassy in Brussels organized a rally encompassing Ethiopians and Ethiopian origins in Brussels and Luxembourg with the intention of calling on the European Union and the west to restrain themselves from bringing pressure to bear on Ethiopia.
Most of the demonstrators were carrying the national flag of Ethiopia and singing patriotic songs that melted the hearts and minds of all and sundry at the drop of a hat and moving the flag of Ethiopia to and fro. Above and beyond, they were expressing the fact that they would give their all for their motherland regardless of the price.
The diasporas were shouting a wide variety of slogans such as stop emboldening the terrorist group TPLF, stop negative propaganda on Ethiopia based on fabricated information, EU should support Ethiopian democratic journey, EU should release the suspended budget support, EU stop increasing unnecessary pressure on Ethiopia, national sovereignty and non-interference must be respected by EU within Ethiopia, TPLF rejected the ceasefire, TPLF terrorist group is using child soldiers, EU stop the pressure on Ethiopia, EU’s silence on child soldiers is a big failure, children of Tigray deserve protection, TPLF is the butcher of children of Tigray, and whatnot.
They were as well chanting quite a lot of slogans like no Syria, no Libya, no Yemen in Ethiopia, disarm TPLF terrorism, condemn the deployment of child soldiers, TPLF is the enemy of Ethiopia, stop fabricated information on Ethiopia, Tigray is an integral part of Ethiopia, supporting TPLF is supporting terrorism, TPLF is committing a war crime, and other related aspects.
It is worth noting that despite the fact the government of Ethiopia declared a unilateral ceasefire for humanitarian aid relief, the terrorist TPLF group failed to deescalate the situation but rather invaded neighboring regions, claiming the lives of many children and civilians. However, the international media did not report the sad news that broke the hearts of Ethiopians and the U.S did not so far come out to denounce the horrific atrocities of the terrorist group.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD AUGUST 18/ 2021
