No end date for internet blackout in Tigray, says Ethiopia

Charity begins petition for African Union to condemn internet shutdown

Redwan Hussien Rameto, second left, representative of the Ethiopian government, and Getachew Reda, second right, representative of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, sign a peace agreement regarding the African Union-led negotiations to resolve conflict in Ethiopia at the Department of International Relations and Co-operation offices in Pretoria, South Africa. AFP

Representatives from Ethiopia and representatives from Tigray attend a press conference. AFP

Redwan Hussien Rameto, representative of the Ethiopian government. AFP

Getachew Reda, representative of the Tigray People's Liberation Front. AFP

Former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, left, arrives for peace talks between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan People's Liberation Front. AFP

Youngsters walk next to an abandoned tank south of the town of Mehoni, Ethiopia. AFP

The airport in Bahir Dar, the capital city of the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia. AP

Protestors outside the Emirates stadium in London raise awareness of conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Reuters

UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi, centre, speaks with Clementine Nkweta-Salami, right, UNHCR regional bureau director for the East, Horn and Great Lakes regions of Africa. AP Photo

A destroyed tank is seen in a field in the aftermath of fighting between the Ethiopian National Defence Force and the Tigray People's Liberation Front forces in Kasagita town, in Afar region, Ethiopia. Reuters

Ethiopians protest at a rally organised by the city administration against what they say is interference by outsiders in the country's internal affairs and against the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the party of Tigray's fugitive leaders, in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. AP Photo

A man waves an Ethiopian flag as he join others gathering in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during a demonstration in support of Ethiopia armed forces. AFP

A satellite image shows the deployment of heavy weaponry in the town of Serha, Eritrea, near the border with Ethiopia's Tigray region. Reuters

A man gestures as he shouts during a protest at the Embassy of the United States of America in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AFP

Workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross deliver lifesaving medical supplies into Mekelle, Tigray region, Ethiopia. Reuters

Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, left, meets with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the UN headquarters. AP Photo

A convoy of trucks part of the World Food Programme (WFP) on their way to Tigray are seen in the village of Erebti, Ethiopia. The Afar region, the only passageway for humanitarian convoys bound for Tigray, is itself facing a serious food crisis, due to the combined effects of the conflict in northern Ethiopia and the drought in the Horn of Africa which have notably caused numerous population displacements. More than a million people need food aid in the region according to the World Food Programme. AFP

Captive Ethiopian soldiers arrive at the Mekele Rehabilitation Centre in Tigray, Ethiopia, after a four-day journey from Abdi Eshir. All photos: AFP

Women welcome Tigray People's Liberation Front fighters as they return to Mekele after seizing control of the city in June 2021.

Ethiopians who fled the Tigray conflict wait to charge their phones at Um Raquba refugee camp in Gedaref, Sudan.

A member of the Afar Special Forces stands in front of the debris of a house on the outskirts of the village of Bisober in Tigray.

People hold candles and Ethiopian flags at a memorial service for the victims of the Tigray conflict in Addis Ababa.

An Ethiopian refugee who fled fighting in Tigray waits behind a fence in a camp in Sudan.

Refugees living in a camp in Sudan after fleeing violence in Tigray.

A woman walks among the remains of a destroyed factory in Ataye, Ethiopia, where more than 100 civilians died in a recent flare-up of violence.

Two members of the Amhara militia ride in the back of a pick-up truck. Amharas and Tigrayans were uneasy neighbours before the current fighting, with tension over land sparking violent clashes.

Militias from the Amhara region have been involved in the fighting in Tigray.

Tens of thousands of Ethiopians gather at a rally organised by the mayor of Addis Ababa to show support for the military's efforts in Tigray.

Zeleke Alabachew, farmer and militia fighter, tends to his land near the village of Tekeldengy, Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation.

People celebrate the liberation of opposition leaders in the city of Alamata, Ethiopia.

A family fleeing violence sit in a former classroom at May Weyni secondary school, now hosting 10,500 displaced people, in Mekele, capital of Tigray.

Ethiopian refugees travel to Sudan to escape violence in Tigray.

Ethiopian refugees gather to celebrate the 46th anniversary of the Tigray People's Liberation Front at Um Raquba refugee camp in Gedaref, Sudan. The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics before being ousted from their regional stronghold last year.

An Ethiopian refugee sets up a tent in a camp in the town of Gedaref, Sudan, after being transported from the border reception centre.

Pro-Tigrayan demonstrators display placards during a protest in front of the chancellery in Berlin.

The aftermath of heavy shelling in Wukro, a city north of Mekele, in Ethiopia.

There is “no timeline” for restoring internet access to Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, a senior government official said Tuesday.

Tigray’s internet service will be restored along with its phone and electricity services, although no date has been set, said Belete Molla, Ethiopia’s Minister for Innovation and Technology.

He was speaking at the UN's annual Internet Governance Forum being held this week in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

“The government of Ethiopia is designing a package that is not only about internet resumption but the resumption of everything, because this is what we need as a people, as a government,” Mr Belete said.

“There is no timeline.”

Tigray, home to more than 5 million people, has been mostly without internet, telecommunications and banking since war broke out between federal government troops and forces led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in November 2020.

A ceasefire deal signed between the warring sides in South Africa this month commits the government to restoring Tigray’s basic services, but the communications blackout has not yet been lifted.

Renewed fighting in August halted aid deliveries to Tigray, which is in the throes of a humanitarian crisis.

Aid has now started reaching the region, but the World Food Programme said last week that access to parts of Tigray remained “constrained.”

Access Now’s Shutdown Tracker Optimisation Project found that since 2016, authorities have imposed at least 22 internet shutdowns at local and national levels.

The internet access NGO has launched a petition for the African Union and regional states to condemn the shutdown and help to re-establish internet access across the region.

The UN’s decision to hold its flagship event on internet access in Ethiopia has drawn criticism.

This year’s conference aims to build steps towards “universal, affordable and meaningful connectivity,” especially in Africa where 60 per cent of the continent’s 1.3 billion people are offline.

Ethiopia has shut down the internet at least 22 times since 2016, according to Access Now.

The blackout affecting Tigray “is the world’s longest uninterrupted shutdown", said Brett Solomon, Access Now’s executive director.

Aid workers and rights groups say the communications blackout has hampered the delivery of aid to Tigray and fuelled human rights abuses by fostering a culture of impunity among armed actors.

UN investigators have accused all sides of abuses, including killings, rape and torture.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the internet forum on Tuesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appeared to defend the shutdown in Tigray.

Mr Abiy said the internet had “supported the spread of disinformation as Ethiopia dealt with an armed rebellion in the northern part of the country".