António Guterres, US condemn Ethiopia's decision to expel top UN officials

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday, 30 September, expressed shock at the expulsion of seven of its senior officials by the Ethiopian government. According to a press release, Guterres said that the United Nations was committed to helping the Ethiopian people, adding that it was engaging with the government “in the expectation” that the affected staff could “continue their important work”. 

Guterres said, “I was shocked by the information that the Government of Ethiopia has declared seven UN officials, including senior UN humanitarian officials, as persona non grata.” 

The UN chief’s statement came after Ethiopia expelled seven UN workers and said that they had 72 hours to leave the nation. In a Twitter post, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the seven UN officials were “meddling in the internal affairs of the country”. The move came as the UN humanitarian workers have been sounding the alarm about the limited access to the embattled Tigray region, which has been racked by conflict for almost 11 months. 

The Ethiopian government ordered the expulsion of senior UN officials including individuals from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). Grant Leaity, deputy humanitarian coordinator for OCHA, and Adele Khodr, UNICEF representative in Ethiopia, were among those expelled. OCHA’s Kwesi Sansculotte, Saeed Moahmoud Hersi, Ghada Eltahir Midawi and Marcy Vigoda were also ordered to leave the country, along with Sonny Onyegbula, of the UN Office of the high commissioner for human rights.

Following the announcement by Ethiopia, Guterres said, “The UN is committed to helping Ethiopian people who rely on humanitarian assistance. We are now engaging with the Government of Ethiopia in the expectation that the concerned UN staff will be allowed to continue their important work.”

US ‘strongly’ condemns Ethiopia's decision 

Separately, the United States said that it will impose sanctions related to Ethiopia’s “absent significant progress”. In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US “strongly” condemned the decision to expel UN humanitarian workers. He even called for the Ethiopian government to immediately reverse the decision. He noted that the UN was critical to humanitarian relief efforts amid the growing risk of famine. 

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that thousands of people have been killed and over two million have fled their homes since PM Abiy Ahmed ordered a military offensive against regional forces in Tigray in November 2020. According to the BBC, Ahmed had said that he did so in response to an attack on a military base housing government troops there. The escalation then came after months of feuding between Ahmed’s administration and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) over the reforms the PM was pursuing. Ethiopia has declared the TPLF a terrorist organisation, while it insists that it is the legitimate government in Tigray. 

(Image: AP)