The Seven U.N. humanitarian officials who were ordered to leave Ethiopia for alleged meddling in internal affairs are no longer in the country, the organisation has confirmed.
“They have been moved from the country to ensure their safety,” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said.
“Our priority is to make sure that our staff can go about their work safely,” he said
A day before they left the country, Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ethiopia released a statement explaining the decision and requesting the UN to send replacement to those UN staff who were involved in facilitating different forms of support to the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
Ethiopia reached out to the relevant United Nations body regarding UN staff misconduct in the course of delivery of humanitarian assistance long before the decision to expel them, according to the statement from the Ministry. But the UN did not seem to have taken the matter seriously.
Based on the statement from the Ministry, the UN officials expelled from Ethiopia were involved in activities that violate the memorandum of agreement with the government of Ethiopia, which was signed in November 2020, and United Nations core principles of humanitarian assistance.
They were engaged in activities ranging from diverting humanitarian assistance to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which the Ethiopian parliament designated as a terrorist organization, to violating security arrangements and the transfer of communication devices for TPLF forces – which was meant to be used in its military activities.
MG/abj/APA