Rights group welcomes TPS designation as offering ‘potentially lifesaving reprieve’ to tens of thousands of Ethiopians.
Ethiopians living in the United States will get work permits and be shielded from deportation for 18 months, the Biden administration has announced, as the African nation is embroiled in a deadly armed conflict.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Friday that it was extending what’s known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Ethiopians due to the “extraordinary and temporary conditions” that make it too dangerous for them to return to their country safely.
Ethiopians residing in the US as of October 20, 2022, will be eligible to apply, DHS said.
“Ethiopian nationals currently residing in the US who cannot safely return due to conflict-related violence and a humanitarian crisis involving severe food shortages, flooding, drought, and displacement, will be able to remain and work in the United States until conditions in their home country improve,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
This is the first time that Ethiopians will be eligible for TPS, which the US has extended to nationals from Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Somalia, Cameroon, and Ukraine, among other countries around the world.
Members of the Tigrayan community demand an end to violence in the region of Tigray.
Washington grants TPS to nationals of countries where conditions temporarily make it too dangerous for citizens to return – such as in cases of armed conflict or after environmental disasters, including earthquakes and hurricanes.
The Ethiopian military and its allies, including troops from neighbouring Eritrea, have been battling forces from the northern region of Tigray on and off since late 2020.
The conflict has killed thousands of people, displaced millions and left hundreds of thousands on the brink of famine.
The Ethiopian government has repeatedly denied blocking humanitarian supplies to Tigray or targeting civilians, but earlier this week, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said food and healthcare were being used as weapons of war.
“There’s no other situation globally in which six million people have been kept under siege for almost two years,” said Tedros. “There is a very narrow window now to prevent genocide.”
