"Ethiopian government is obstructing the delivery of food, medicine, and other lifesaving supplies" - White House
Posted: 30 Sep 2021, 19:03
The U.S. government condemns in the strongest possible terms the government of Ethiopia’s unprecedented action to expel the leadership of all of the United Nations organizations involved in ongoing humanitarian operations. We agree with U.N. leaders: This is a stain on our collective conscience and it must stop.
The action follows the release of reports warning that hundreds of thousands of people are starving to death in northern Ethiopia. We’re deeply concerned that this action continues a pattern by the Ethiopian government of obstructing the delivery of food, medicine, and other lifesaving supplies that most — to those most in need.
We call on the U.N. Security Council and members of the international community to take urgent action to make clear to the government of Ethiopia that impeding humanitarian operations and depriving your own citizens of the basic means of survival is unacceptable.
President Biden signed an executive order, earlier this month, enabling the U.S. government to impose financial sanctions on those prolonging the conflict in northern Ethiopia. We will not hesitate to use this or any other tool at our disposal to respond quickly and decisively to those who obstruct humanitarian assistance to the people of Ethiopia.
Question: Thank you, Jen. You mentioned at the top that on September 17th the President signed an executive order authorizing sanctions to be used against those undermining peace in Ethiopia.
But right now, it doesn’t seem the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, is interested in peace. He refused to meet with Samantha Power when she was there. He has — he is expelling U.N. staff from the country. He’s taken other steps that prove that he has no interest in peace.
Why not take the sanction now? Why not impose the sanction now, or take more drastic action against not just him but also the President of Eritrea, who still have troops inside Ethiopia?
MS. PSAKI: Well, absent clear and concrete changes, we will. We’re preparing to take aggressive action under this executive order to impose targeted sanctions against a range of individuals and entities. What we’re communicating to the parties on the ground is that we must see meaningful steps within weeks to initiate discussions to achieve a negotiated ceasefire, allow in an unhindered humanitarian access, and ensure respect for human rights. Absent significant progress, we’ll take action. And we have the methods to do that. That’s why I rec- — talked about the executive order.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo ... r-30-2021/
The action follows the release of reports warning that hundreds of thousands of people are starving to death in northern Ethiopia. We’re deeply concerned that this action continues a pattern by the Ethiopian government of obstructing the delivery of food, medicine, and other lifesaving supplies that most — to those most in need.
We call on the U.N. Security Council and members of the international community to take urgent action to make clear to the government of Ethiopia that impeding humanitarian operations and depriving your own citizens of the basic means of survival is unacceptable.
President Biden signed an executive order, earlier this month, enabling the U.S. government to impose financial sanctions on those prolonging the conflict in northern Ethiopia. We will not hesitate to use this or any other tool at our disposal to respond quickly and decisively to those who obstruct humanitarian assistance to the people of Ethiopia.
Question: Thank you, Jen. You mentioned at the top that on September 17th the President signed an executive order authorizing sanctions to be used against those undermining peace in Ethiopia.
But right now, it doesn’t seem the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, is interested in peace. He refused to meet with Samantha Power when she was there. He has — he is expelling U.N. staff from the country. He’s taken other steps that prove that he has no interest in peace.
Why not take the sanction now? Why not impose the sanction now, or take more drastic action against not just him but also the President of Eritrea, who still have troops inside Ethiopia?
MS. PSAKI: Well, absent clear and concrete changes, we will. We’re preparing to take aggressive action under this executive order to impose targeted sanctions against a range of individuals and entities. What we’re communicating to the parties on the ground is that we must see meaningful steps within weeks to initiate discussions to achieve a negotiated ceasefire, allow in an unhindered humanitarian access, and ensure respect for human rights. Absent significant progress, we’ll take action. And we have the methods to do that. That’s why I rec- — talked about the executive order.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo ... r-30-2021/