Agency for Civil Society Organisation (ACSO) says it will continue to take punitive measures against humanitarian organisations in Ethiopia suspected of working on issues that threaten Ethiopia’s sovereignty.
ACSO recently suspended the operations of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), and the Al-Maktoum Foundation.
While ACSO accused MSF and NRC of disseminating misinformation on social media and other platforms, it claimed that Al-Maktoume Foundation failed to comply with the Ministry of Education’s Covid-19 guidelines.
The agency suspended the activities of the organisations for three months in accordance with Article 77(4) of Proclamation No. 1113/2011 until a final decision is made.
‘We will have no mercy on civil society organisations that threaten Ethiopia’s sovereignty, unity and security’, Deputy Director General of the Agency, Fasikaw Molla, said.
‘We will never negotiate to accommodate such a predicament. We have information that some civil society organisations are acting in a way that is against the national interest.
‘Because the situation inflicts danger on the national interest, we will handle it very seriously. The necessary corrective action will be taken as soon as we complete the investigation’.
Spokesman for the Tigray emergency task force, Redwan Hussein, had alleged in July that aid groups were ‘playing a destructive role’ in the nine-month conflict in Tigray.
Over 1.7 million people have been displaced by fighting between Ethiopian troops and the Tigray Defence Force.
Thousands of people face famine conditions and Ethiopia’s government has been accused of blocking assistance.
In its response, the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) asked Ethiopian authorities to stop blanket accusations against aid workers in the country.
UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said such allegations were ‘unfair’.
Source: Addis Standard
Photo source: MSF
