Why Global Pressure on the Defunct TPLF Must Continue? - ENA English
Why Global Pressure on the Defunct TPLF Must Continue?
Op-ed by Neway Tamiru
June 28,2026 (ENA)
The peace established by the Pretoria Peace Agreement is facing one of its most serious tests since the guns fell silent in northern Ethiopia. Increasingly, governments, international human rights organizations, former TPLF leaders, and regional observers are converging on a single and urgent conclusion: sustained global pressure on hardline elements of the defunct Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is essential to prevent a return to full-scale war in northern Ethiopia.
This is the central reason why international attention is intensifying.
Without continued diplomatic, political, and legal pressure, there is growing concern that renewed militarization, forced recruitment, and escalating tensions in Tigray region could unravel the Pretoria Agreement and plunge the region back into catastrophic conflict.
What was once regarded largely as an internal political challenge has now become a matter of widening international concern. The emerging global response reflects more than routine diplomatic engagement. It signals a recognition that instability in northern Ethiopia carries serious implications for peace across the Horn of Africa.
From the United States’ decision to impose targeted visa restrictions on hardline TPLF members and their families to Human Rights Watch’s strong condemnation of alleged forced conscription in Tigray, the international message is increasingly unified.
And those undermining the peace process must face sustained accountability and pressure.
This convergence is important for one key reason: it reflects a shift from passive observation to active prevention. The international community is no longer only documenting the consequences of conflict; it is increasingly identifying the actors and actions that could trigger another war.
The Risk of Renewed Militarization
Among the clearest warnings comes from Human Rights Watch, which has urged the defunct TPLF members currently exercising control in Tigray to immediately revoke a proclamation issued in early June 2026 granting sweeping powers for compulsory military recruitment.
The organization warned that the measure bears troubling similarities to Eritrea’s system of indefinite national service, raising serious concerns about coercion at a time when communities remain deeply traumatized by the 2020–2022 war.
“The people of Tigray are still reeling from a devastating two-year conflict and its aftermath,” said Laetitia Bader, Deputy Africa Director at Human Rights Watch.
Rather than deepening coercive measures, she stressed that authorities should prioritize protecting civilians from renewed violence.
The organization further reported allegations of door-to-door recruitment, forced mobilization of former fighters, and the detention or punishment of families resisting conscription, including minors. These developments, if unchecked, risk creating a climate of fear and renewed displacement.
This is precisely why sustained international pressure matters: to prevent coercive practices from becoming the trigger for another cycle of violence.
Washington’s Position and the Shift Toward Accountability
The United States has reinforced this concern through targeted visa restrictions against hardline members of the TPLF and their immediate families under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
More importantly, Washington has explicitly linked rising tensions in northern Ethiopia to actions by hardline actors within the TPLF, warning that such behavior threatens to reignite conflict and destabilize the region.
The U.S. also referenced renewed clashes between a self-proclaimed Tigray Defense Forces and the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), describing them as a dangerous signal of potential relapse into war.
By pledging to use “all available tools” to hold accountable those undermining peace, Washington has effectively reinforced a core principle that peace agreements require enforcement, not just signatures.
Domestic Warnings Reinforce the International Alarm
Ethiopian political figures and former TPLF officials have echoed similar concerns.
Professor Kindeya Gebrehiwot, Head of the Cabinet Secretariat of the first Tigray Interim Regional Administration warned that the removal of the federally appointed interim administration risks destabilizing northern Ethiopia once again. He emphasized that growing resistance within Tigray itself reflects widespread exhaustion with war and a strong preference for peaceful resolution.
He further raised concern over reports of forced recruitment and stated that many young people are rejecting renewed mobilization, viewing another war as catastrophic.
Similarly, Aregawi Berhe, founding chairman and former TPLF leader, argued that federal efforts to stabilize the region through the Pretoria Agreement were not matched by equivalent commitment from hardline elements.
He warned that some actors viewed the agreement not as a peace framework but as an opportunity to reorganize militarily.
According to Getachew, the United States has effectively identified the Debretsion Gebremichael-led faction of the TPLF as the principal driver of the current instability.
“The importance of the visa restriction doesn’t lie in the restriction itself but in the fact that the U.S. government has put the blame for rising tension in Ethiopia on the DT camp,” he stated.
He further argued that Washington’s decision serves as an implicit warning to external actors allegedly cooperating with hardline TPLF elements.
Additional concerns have also been raised by Ethiopia’s National Security Adviser Redwan Hussien, who, in a joint commentary with Getachew Reda published by Al Jazeera, argued that hardline TPLF elements have used the Pretoria Agreement as an opportunity to reorganize militarily.
According to their assessment, another conflict would extend well beyond northern Ethiopia, threatening peace and stability throughout the Horn of Africa.
Perhaps the most disturbing allegations come from Aregawi Berhe regarding the continued recruitment of children.
He alleged that many veteran fighters have abandoned the organization after losing confidence in its leadership, forcing the hardline faction to recruit new combatants.
“They snatch kids as young as 13 and 14,” he claimed, adding that numerous families have sent their children to other parts of Ethiopia or abroad to escape forced recruitment.
Those allegations closely mirror concerns documented by Human Rights Watch regarding coercive mobilization and growing displacement.
In conclusion, taken together, the positions of Human Rights Watch, the United States government, former TPLF leaders, former officials of the Tigray Interim Administration, and Ethiopian security officials reveal a remarkable convergence.
Viewed collectively, they point toward a single conclusion: renewed militarization, the defunct TPLF’s coercive recruitment, and efforts to undermine the Pretoria Peace Agreement threaten not only northern Ethiopia but also the security architecture of the entire Horn of Africa.
The growing international pressure therefore represents far more than isolated diplomatic measures or human rights criticism. It reflects an emerging global determination to preserve the peace secured through Pretoria by increasing political, diplomatic, and legal pressure on those accused of preparing for renewed conflict.
In that regard, preventing another catastrophe will require sustained international vigilance, firm diplomatic engagement, and unequivocal support for peaceful political dialogue. The lesson of the past is unmistakable: complacency carries an enormous human cost. The lesson of the present is equally clear: preserving peace demands collective resolve before—not after—the next conflict begins.
The growing international pressure against the belligerent TPLF is therefore not symbolic. It is preventative.
It reflects an emerging global understanding that the cost of inaction in northern Ethiopia would be measured not only in political instability but in human suffering on a massive scale.
Therefore, global pressure on the defunct TPLF must continue precisely because peace is not yet secure and because preventing the next war is far less costly than responding to it.