Human Rights Watch Says Tigrayans Face Ongoing Persecution in Western Tigray

Human Rights Watch said Wednesday that ethnic Tigrayans in Ethiopia’s contested Western Tigray zone are still facing arbitrary detention and a discriminatory system that restricts movement, work and access to basic services, nearly four years after a 2022 truce formally ended large-scale fighting in northern Ethiopia.

The rights group said the abuses are continuing to drive people from the area and are undermining any effort to return displaced residents safely. The report lands as disputes over the territory remain unresolved, tensions have risen after clashes in late January, and more than 740,000 people remained displaced in Tigray in mid-2025, according to UNICEF citing International Organization for Migration tracking. Human Rights Watch said many displaced people in central Tigray came from Western Tigray.

In its April 22 report, “Ethiopia: Persecution of Tigrayans Unrelenting,” Human Rights Watch said authorities and security forces in Western Tigray — also referred to under Amhara administration as Welkait Tegede Setit Humera Zone — are arbitrarily detaining ethnic Tigrayans and sharply limiting their freedom of movement, employment and access to services.

Human Rights Watch said it remotely interviewed 40 people between January and February 2026, including 17 who had fled Western Tigray since December 2025, and also spoke with eight aid workers, diplomats and experts. It said it reviewed documents including temporary permits, medical records and photographs. Independent access to Western Tigray remains limited, and the group’s findings are based largely on remote interviews and documents rather than broad on-the-ground verification.

The group said it sent a summary of its preliminary findings to the Ethiopian government on March 20 and received no response.

According to Human Rights Watch, ethnic Tigrayans in the zone are being denied identity documents and forced to obtain temporary permits from ward offices if they want to leave their towns. The group said people are often confined to movement within their district and Humera town, and can face beatings, arrest or detention at checkpoints if they do not have the required papers.

Without identity documents, Human Rights Watch said, many Tigrayans cannot access bank accounts, land or other services and are pushed into low-paid or unpaid day labor. A Tigrayan man quoted in the report said: “We are denied IDs. This means we can’t access our bank accounts, we can’t access our land. Tigrayans are only allowed to work as day laborers.”

Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said, “Tigrayans in Western Tigray Zone are facing severe and dehumanizing restrictions on all aspects of their lives.”

Western Tigray is claimed by both Amhara and Tigrayan authorities. During the 2020-2022 war in northern Ethiopia, Amhara regional forces and allied militias took control of the area. In an April 2022 joint report, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said Amhara forces and local authorities had carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign against Tigrayans there during the war. The African Union-brokered truce signed in November 2022 halted large-scale fighting, but it did not settle control of contested territories or the return of displaced people.

Human Rights Watch said clashes on Jan. 29 between the Ethiopian army and Tigrayan forces heightened tensions and triggered fresh displacement. It also said local authorities have organized militias known as Tekeze Zeb since 2024 and linked them to arbitrary detention and abuse. The group said the Ethiopian government should suspend and investigate Col. Demeke Zewde, whom it identified as head of security and deputy administrator of the zone.

The report comes after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in a Feb. 3 parliamentary address cited by Human Rights Watch, said: “[N]o one should be displaced while [the dispute] is in place; those who were displaced should return to their homes, administer themselves, and resolve their own questions.”

Human Rights Watch said current conditions in Western Tigray make safe returns impossible at present and called for independent monitoring and accountability before returns proceed. It said continuing abuses including unlawful imprisonment, forcible transfer and persecution would amount to crimes against humanity.

For now, the central question remains unresolved: whether displaced Tigrayans can go home safely while control of Western Tigray is still disputed and Human Rights Watch says abuses in the zone are continuing.