Emergency warning! Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia issued a notice to remind citizens not to travel

Recently, the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia issued a circular reminding Chinese citizens not to travel, travel or engage in other activities in the near future in Ethiopia's Tiger, Amhara, Beni Mountain Gul-Gumuz, Gambera, north and west of Oromia, Somalee and Afar states. It is important to raise awareness of security risks, closely monitor the development of the situation with local personnel and institutions, maintain a high degree of vigilance, strengthen security precautions and emergency preparedness, and ensure personal and property safety.

It is understood that this is mainly a civil war between PFDJ and Ethiopian government forces. Civil war broke out because the PFDJ, a left-wing political party composed of people from the Tig state in northern Ethiopia, insisted on holding regional elections in defiance of orders from the Ethiopian authorities, resulting in discord in relations. The civil war has been going on for many years, and in 2022, the two sides reached a peace agreement, but riots continued.

After that, Ethiopia entered a period of development, but the long-standing land dispute turned into a long-term violent conflict, so large-scale protests began in the country, eventually the ruling party was disbanded, and the new democratically elected government clashed with PFDJ, which eventually led to civil war.

During this period, in order to prevent local armed conflicts and decided to build a strong federal army, the Ethiopian federal government integrated local armed forces from 11 states into the federal forces. But the bureau was protested by nationalists in the state of Amhara, which lies between the capital and Tigre, believing that the Ethiopian government is weakening the power of Amhara and undermining the state's regional security. as a result, clashes were launched between the state's Farno forces and the federal government in August 2023, which continue to this day and spread to the south and surrounding areas.

The current conflict situation has seriously affected the Ethiopian economy, with the worst impact being the country's agricultural industry and tourism. Since Ethiopia's economy is mainly dependent on agriculture and animal husbandry and its income mainly depends on the export of agricultural products such as leather, gold and coffee, Ethiopia is a landlocked country, exports and imports depend on the port of neighbouring Djibouti, however, armed attacks on the way to the port have seriously affected the country's transport industry, and the necessary route has been designated as a "danger zone". The reduction in imports and exports will greatly affect the country's economy, such as inflation and recession.

In addition to affecting agricultural exports, it has also affected the country's tourism industry. In the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the ongoing war has aggravated the serious economic crisis in the historic town of Libera. The region has always relied on tourism as the main income, but due to the war and other effects, the number of tourists continues to decline, which also makes hotels, cafes and shops in the region polluting patronage and can only close down. Many employees choose to leave the region or emigrate to other countries.

Moreover, Ethiopia is recognized as the birthplace of coffee and has more than 10,000 coffee varieties, which has also attracted many coffee traders and bean hunters to the country. Although the conflict took place in the north of the capital, there have been a number of recent kidnappings and other incidents near the capital, which may also be potentially dangerous for traders going south. Therefore, in accordance with the advice of the Embassy, do not travel or engage in other activities in Ethiopia's high-risk areas in the near future. Local personnel and institutions have closely followed the development of the situation, maintained vigilance, strengthened security precautions and emergency preparedness, and ensured personal and property safety. In case of emergency, report to the embassy and ask for assistance.