US special envoy for Horn of Africa set to step down amid turmoil in region

The frequent change of personnel raises questions about the Biden administration's commitment to the region

David Satterfield, US special envoy for the Horn of Africa, will step down from his role after less than six months on the job. Reuters

US special envoy for the Horn of Africa, David Satterfield, will step down from his role before summer, after less than six months on the job and at a time of persistent political turmoil in the region.

Payton Knopf, the deputy special envoy, will take over the post in an acting capacity, Reuters reported.

Mr Satterfield and Mr Knopf were set to arrive in Ethiopia on Wednesday, the State Department said, for meetings with Ethiopian government officials, representatives of humanitarian organisations, and diplomatic partners.

The State Department did not comment on Mr Satterfield's departure.

The news of Mr Satterfield's expected departure comes at a time of multiple crises in the region.

A more than year-long conflict in Ethiopia has sparked accusations of atrocities on both sides, while Sudan is in economic and political turmoil following an October regime change.

The frequent change of personnel also raises questions about the Biden administration's commitment to the region, particularly at a time when it is grappling with pressing foreign policy crises elsewhere, primarily the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The region remains an "absolute priority" for the administration, a senior State Department official said.

Mr Satterfield, a long-time career diplomat with decades of experience, had replaced Jeffrey Feltman, another veteran US diplomat who had stepped down at the end of last year after about nine months in the job.

Mr Feltman continues to serve in an advisory capacity.

Thousands of Eritrean refugees have fled on foot through the harsh, rugged terrain of Ethiopia’s Afar region, to escape the latest outbreak of shelling and gunfire. All photos: AFP

Civilians fleeing the violence gather at the compound of the Agda Hotel, in Semera.

Women refugees wait at the hotel to be registered by the authorities.

Those lucky enough to escape the latest violence are now scattered across Afar, facing uncertainty in a country they once regarded as a haven from their repressive homeland.

A woman gets her hair braided outside the Agda Hotel.

The fighting has renewed debate on how to accommodate one of the most vulnerable groups in Africa's second most populous country.

‘Ethiopia is no longer a safe place for Eritrean refugees – that's quite clear,’ said Sarah Miller of Refugees International.

Refugee charities have highlighted the 'scale and scope' of abuse of Eritreans at every stage of the 15-month war in Ethiopia.

Eritrean refugees have a long history in northern Ethiopia, first arriving in 2000 towards the end of a two-year border war.

Before the current conflict, the UN said 113,000 Eritrean refugees were registered in Tigray and Afar.

Most have fled from the authoritarian rule of President Isaias Afwerki, whose abysmal rights record has led Eritrea being nicknamed 'Africa's North Korea'.

The refugees have faced extended cuts to food and medical aid.

An attack on the Bahrale camp this month was part of a broader offensive in Afar that diplomats say represents the latest setback to the prospect of peace talks.

'They kidnapped some refugee women, we do not know where they are,' said one survivor, who became separated from her sister and 9-year-old son.

Hundreds of refugees from Bahrale have since sought shelter at the Agda Hotel, gathering under cardboard boxes or spindly trees in the courtyard to shield themselves from the sun.

Two leading human rights groups last week accused armed forces from Ethiopia's Amhara region of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing against ethnic Tigrayans during a war that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced more than a million.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint report that abuses by Amhara officials and regional special forces and militias during fighting in western Tigray amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They also accused Ethiopia's military of complicity in those acts.

Ethiopia's government said it was committed to holding all those responsible for violations of human rights and humanitarian law accountable.

Amhara government spokesman Gizachew Muluneh told Reuters the allegations of abuses and ethnic cleansing in western Tigray were "lies" and "fabricated" news.

Last week, the US expressed concern about reports of ethnically motivated atrocities in Tigray and called for an end to unlawful detentions based on ethnicity.

In Sudan, the military takeover derailed a transition that had raised hopes of an end to decades of autocracy, civil conflict and economic isolation after former president Omar Al Bashir was overthrown in a 2019 uprising.