The US government imposed sanctions on the army and the ruling party of Eritrea on Friday, due to the role of the African country’s armed forces in the bloody armed conflict in neighboring Ethiopia.
“Washington condemns” the continuing role played by Eritrean actors in the violence in northern Ethiopia, which has undermined the stability and integrity of the country and is causing a humanitarian catastrophe, “said Andrea Gaki, the US Treasury Secretary.
“Eritrea’s destabilizing presence in Ethiopia prolongs the conflict,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a separate statement.
There is credible information that the Eritrean armed forces are involved in blatant human rights violations, the US diplomat continued, while expressing Washington’s concern about the way the warring parties are acting non-stop.
Mr Blinken demanded that all Eritrean army units deployed in Ethiopia leave immediately.
The US Secretary of State will travel to Kenya next week. The armed conflict in Ethiopia will be high on the agenda of the talks.
If there is no progress in the effort to restore peace, Washington is ready to impose sanctions on both the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), he warned.
The sanctions target, among others, the army, Eritrean President Isaiah Afuerki’s PFDJ party, and two senior members of his government.
However, the Northeast African country is already virtually isolated from the rest of the world, which means that US sanctions will have a limited impact.
The resources of the sanctions targets in US jurisdiction will be frozen, while US citizens and US companies will be virtually barred from doing business with them.
U.S. sanctions often make business dealings more difficult for individuals, whether natural or legal, who are targeted, as most banks and most businesses are reluctant to risk the consequences of their breach.
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