Ethiopia situation update (25 June 2025)

Displaced Tigrayans mobilize mass protests in Tigray demanding returns to disputed territories

In recent weeks, Tigrayans who were displaced during the northern Ethiopia conflict have organized a series of demonstrations in the Tigray region calling for their immediate return to their homes. The protests reflect growing frustration with the slow pace of returns and perceived political inaction surrounding the fate of disputed territories, particularly those in western Tigray and areas bordering Eritrea. In Tigray, there are over 878,000 internally displaced people (IDPs).¹Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “Ethiopia Refugees and IDPs statistics January 2025,” 31 January 2025 During the conflict in northern Ethiopia, it is estimated that over 70,000 people from Tigray also fled to Sudan.²Michael Atit, “Sudan’s Tigray War Refugees Hope to Return Home After Peace Deal,” Voice of America, 5 January 2023 

The first major protest occurred on 11 June at around 7 a.m., when the IDPs who were displaced from disputed territories in western Tigray and other areas bordering Eritrea during the northern Ethiopia conflict protested at the office of the president of the Interim Regional Administration of Tigray region in Mekele city. The demonstrators demanded an immediate return to their homes, before the rainy season begins in July. They criticized the regional administration’s failure to return them to their homes despite several promises. At approximately 10:30 a.m., demonstrators forced their way into the compound and refused to leave without a resolution, prompting a deployment of police units. Around 100 IDP representatives held a closed-door meeting with the deputy president, who pledged a resolution in the near term — a promise the representatives rejected as insufficient, vowing to continue their mobilization.

The following week, IDPs organized a three-day protest, from 18 to 20 June, at the Romanat square (Adebaby) in Mekele. The protest began with demonstrators walking through the streets of Mekele carrying signs with the movement’s main slogan, “Enough: Let’s not spend the fifth rainy season in tents,” and chanting “Return us to our homes,” “Give attention to those displaced to Sudan,” and “Living in tents is not enough.” A similar protest was also observed in Aksum town during the celebration of the 37th Anniversary of the Martyrs’ Memorial on 18 June.³Facebook @tplf.officia, 19 June 2025 (Tigregna); interview with local officials and residents, ACLED, 20 June 2025

The protest was organized by the Tsilal Western Tigray Civil Society, which was established by the IDPs to call on the federal government and the international community to facilitate the safe return of the displaced. On the first day, the protest culminated in the center, Romanat Adebaby. The next day, the IDPs protested in front of federal institutions in the region.⁴Youtube @TigraiTv, 19 June 2025 (Amharic) On the final day of the protest, the interim administration shut down all government offices in Mekele, and the event drew broad participation from civil servants, civil society organizations, residents, and officials. 

The deputy president of the interim administration participated in the protest and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to returning the IDPs to their homes. He accused the federal government of not doing enough to facilitate returns, of using the Pretoria peace agreement to divide Tigray, and of making demographic changes in the disputed territories. The deputy president also indicated that the interim government — dominated by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) — will use force to ensure the return of displaced people if all peaceful means fail.⁵Telegram @tikvahethiopia, 20 June 2025 (Amharic) 

In contrast, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in a consultation with political parties on 18 June, accused the TPLF of obstructing returns for political leverage.⁶YouTube @fanamediacorporation, 19 June 2025 (Amharic) Tigray Democratic Solidarity — also known as “Simeret” (solidarity in Tigregna) — which is led by the former interim president of Tigray and other top former members of TPLF, echoed Abiy’s accusations.⁷Telegram @tikvahethiopia, 22 June 2025 (Amharic) 

At the time of the November 2022 Pretoria peace agreement between the federal government and the TPLF, the disputed territories of Welkait, Humera, and Tsegede areas in Western Tigray zone; East and West Tselemti woredas and Mai Tsebri town in North Western Tigray zone; and Raya-Azebo and Alamata woredas in South Tigray zone were administered by Amhara-led administrations that had taken control of the areas after the conflict began in November 2020. The agreement included an article stating that the government of Ethiopia would “facilitate the return and reintegration of IDPs and refugees, whenever the security situation permits.”⁸Intergovernmental Authority on Development “Agreement For Lasting Peace Through A Permanent Cessation Of Hostilities Between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic Of Ethiopia And The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF),” 3 November 2022 

Since the signing of the agreement and the establishment of the interim administration, the interim regional government has faced intense pressure from people eager to return to their homes in areas controlled by the Amhara region. Between 23 May 2023, when the first such protests were recorded, and 20 June 2025, ACLED records 43 demonstrations by displaced people in the Tigray region. Most of these demonstrations took place in the capital, Mekele.

Those displaced from East Tselemti woreda, West Tselemti woreda, Mai Tsebri town, Raya-Azebo woreda, and Alamata woreda were returned in July 2024 after the Amhara-led administrations in these areas were removed by the government⁹BBC Amharic, “It has been announced that the Tselemt administrative under the Amhara region have been dissolved,” 2 July 2025 (for more, see EPO’s Ethiopia weekly update (2 July 2024), Ethiopia weekly update (9 July 2024), Ethiopia Weekly Update (23 July 2024)). The process of returning the displaced to Tselemti woreda was peaceful, while returns in Raya-Azebo and Alamata woredas were surrounded by violence: Tigray forces began to clash with Amhara militias in Southern Tigray zone in mid-February 2024. The conflict between the two parties continued on 25 and 26 March 2024, with Tigray forces taking control of several kebeles. In mid-April 2024, the clashes escalated, both geographically and in the number of confrontations and affected populations. Tigray forces continued to seize control of various locations surrounding Alamata town — the administrative center of Southern Tigray zone — and toward the end of May 2024, they began to encroach on the town itself. Reportedly, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) placed the Tigray forces in various schools in the town to limit the number of clashes.¹⁰BBC Amharic, “Residents stated that Tigray forces are camped in the schools in Alamata town,” 31 May 2024 (Amharic) A similar mobilization of Tigray forces was also reported in Tselemti woreda beginning on 3 June 2024. However, after consulting with the ENDF and local militias, the forces peacefully withdrew from the area, and in July 2024, displaced people began to move to the woreda.  

The remaining displaced people are mostly from Western Tigray zone and the border areas controlled by the Eritrean forces. Among the three de facto local administrations in disputed territories in Western, North Western, and Southern Tigray zones, the one in Western Tigray zone is well-structured and has its own well-organized local militias, known as Tekeze Defense Forces. The current leaders of this zone were previously affiliated with a group that had long advocated for the area to be part of Amhara and had been a symbol of the anti-TPLF-led government from 2014 to 2018. Any attempt to use force to assert that Welkait, Humera, and Tsegede areas in Western Tigray zone are not under Amhara administration might provoke armed resistance.¹¹YouTube @AmharaMediaCorporation, “Message from Colonel Demeke Zewedu,” 18 April 2022 (Amharic) The federal government announced in November 2023 that a referendum would decide the status of the disputed territories in the Tigray region following the return of internally displaced people.

In territories they control, Eritrean forces have recently removed checkpoints that had restricted access to border areas under their control and the start of local markets, potentially easing returns. These follow the recent public rapprochement of the TPLF led by Debretsion Gebremichael and the Eritrean government. On 22 June, an inter-community event was held in Zalambessa involving IDPs currently sheltering in Adigrat and Fatsi towns, religious leaders, and local officials from both sides, including Eritrean delegates from Sen’afe under the Tsimdo (Solidarity) movement.¹²Interview with local officials and residents, ACLED, 23 June 2025; Girmay Gebru, “Joyful Ethiopians and Eritreans embrace at rare border reopening,” BBC, 23 June 2025 Although the displaced people returned to Adigrat and Fatsi after the event, the removal of checkpoints suggests a growing likelihood that they may soon return home by themselves.

Ethiopian and South Sudanese Forces clash at the border in Gambela 

Over the past two weeks, the Gambela region of Ethiopia has witnessed a sharp uptick in violence, driven by two concurrent dynamics: localized attacks on civilians and cross-border military clashes involving Ethiopian and South Sudanese forces. Between 7 to 20 June, at least three separate attacks against civilians and one attack on a police station, which led to armed clashes, were reported in Itang Special woreda and Agnuwak zone, resulting in eight reported deaths — including a police officer on 9 June, when unidentified armed actors launched an assault on a police station in Itang town. The motive behind the attack remains unclear. In Agnuwak Zone, violence was concentrated in settlement villages established in the 1970s — specifically, Chibo Mender 9 and Mender 17 kebeles in Abobo woreda — where at least six civilians were killed. 

Meanwhile, armed hostilities erupted between Ethiopian forces and the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) along the border near Burebiey village in Nuer Zone. On 9 June, a boat traveling from Ethiopia to South Sudan reportedly came under fire from SSPDF troops, prompting a retaliatory exchange of heavy artillery between the Ethiopian forces and SSPDF. Although the precise number of casualties remains unconfirmed, the fighting triggered significant displacement of civilians along the Ethiopian side of the border. The hostilities continued into 10 June, during which at least two fatalities were reported.

Simultaneously, elements of the White Army — a loosely organized, Nuer-affiliated militia currently in conflict against the SSPDF — engaged Ethiopian forces near Burebiey, further complicating the dynamics of the confrontation. These clashes appear linked to the wider instability in South Sudan, where political tensions between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar have flared into renewed conflict. The spillover into Ethiopian territory began in late April when Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–In Opposition (SPLM-IO) fighters, retreating from SSPDF advances, crossed into Ethiopia and attacked a village in Gambela.

In recent years, the Gambela region has been one of the few stable areas in Ethiopia, with some sporadic communal violence. However, since May 2025, the frequency of such violence has increased. In 2025, so far, ACLED records 15 political violence events, 14 of which have occurred since May 2025.