At least 80 health workers have been detained as Ethiopian security forces have launched a massive intimidation against the striking health professionals across the country demanding a pay raise and safe working conditions.
EHPM, a coalition representing doctors, nurses, and allied health workers, Friday circulated a statement making an “Urgent Call to Action” condemning what it describes as “campaign of suppression” by the government.
The statement alleged that the authorities have responded to peaceful wage demands with arbitrary arrests, threats, and workplace harassment.
It said the security forces have kept on detaining, harassing and rounding up in multiple locations as a crackdown on health professionals participating in a nationwide full strike, now in its fourth day.
The health workers ‘demand focuses on livable wages amid hyperinflation and Ethiopian hyper depreciation, which has left many professionals unable to afford basic necessities. Over 17,000 signatures were collected in a petition highlighting deplorable living conditions.
Yet the government’s only formal response came Thursday evening. And it is a public warning declaring the planned strike “illegal.” Simultaneously, social media reports and eyewitness accounts suggest security forces have detained dozens of health workers in Addis Ababa and regional cities.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called for the immediate release of those arrested, warning that targeting essential workers during a healthcare crisis violates international norms.
Undeterred, the EHPM’s message to colleagues struck a defiant tone.
“For the past three days, we conducted a partial strike to minimize public disruption, hoping the authorities would finally engage with our demands. Yet, they have refused to even acknowledge our suffering—let alone address the starvation wages, unaffordable living costs, and our inability to provide for our families or secure basic necessities,” the statement read.
The movement announced the start of a full-scale strike as of Friday. Some medical workers have been providing emergency and lifesaving services as a goodwill gesture while demanding the government to address their plight.
With no contingency plan announced, fears grow that vulnerable patients—particularly in rural areas—will bear the brunt of the shutdown.
MG/as/APA
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