Recently, you may have heard about clashes between various people groups in Ethiopia. Those are taking place regularly, daily in some areas, usually in border towns outside of Addis quite some distance from Addis. There have also been clashes between demonstrators and local or federal police, some with casualties reported, again in various locations throughout Ethiopia. You may also have noticed our phone service and social media have been interrupted from time to time, like now, as a result of the unrest. All this calls our attention to the need to be aware and plan our travel with these safety concerns in mind.
Please read this travel advisory from the ICS Security Team, as some of you may be traveling outside of Addis within Ethiopia over the break:
- Be aware of your surroundings and exercise caution.
- Carry the ICS Shift Commander’s phone number in your phone: 0911333651
- Carry Hailu Kassaye’s, Chief of Safety and Security, number in your phone: 0911465363
- Check with ICS Security Chief prior to traveling within Ethiopia to understand the security conditions in your destination(s).
- Refer to your own Embassy’s security messages about traveling in Ethiopia.
- Stay current with local and international news stories on Ethiopia that might inform your trip plans
We learned yesterday, about an incident that could happen to any one of us if we are driving in or around Addis or outside of Addis. A couple weeks ago, one of our employees was stopped, by four armed security personnel (Ethiopian Federal Police), and forced to drive them to another location. Upon dropping off the EFP personnel, the ICS employee was then forced to drive three local police, one armed, to a destination of their choosing. This is happening in Ethiopia when there are disturbances in parts of the city/country and security personnel may feel the need to get to another location fast. If you find yourself in this situation, please comply with them, as the employee did two weeks ago, cooperating with them until they were finished. Yes, it is an inconvenience and unnerving. When it is all over, report it to ICS Security office and Hailu Kassaye. We believe that they are simply being opportunistic and taking advantage of private citizens who have vehicles and could assist them in getting where they need to go faster. It is still frightful and disturbing. Therefore, reporting incidents of this nature to ICS Addis Security personnel, will assist us in knowing how we can communicate better with EFP leadership and local police authorities, in an effort to curb this type of treatment, if possible.
Thank you for continuing to exercise caution, remain calm, take steps for safety and security during these uncertain times.