Gebru, 27, says he was taken from his neighbourhood to a local administration office with other young men.
asserted
he → say → men
His parents feared he would be sent to fight and searched for a way to get him out.
asserted
he → fear → him
They eventually paid to secure his release, he says.
asserted
he → pay → release
“I was taken to the office with other young men.
asserted
I → take → men
My parents found a way to get me released by paying 20,000 [Ethiopian] birr ($123) in cash.”
asserted
me → find → cash
After he was released, Gebru left Tigray for Addis Ababa.
asserted
Gebru → release → Ababa
“My parents were afraid that if I stayed, I would be taken again.
asserted
I → stay → ?
They told me to leave Tigray and save myself.”
asserted
They → tell → myself
Gebru is among young men who say they are leaving Tigray because they fear being forcibly recruited to fight as political and military tensions rise in the northern Ethiopian region.
asserted
tensions → say → region
Nearly four years after the November 2022 Pretoria Agreement ended the war between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), reports of forced recruitment and military mobilisation have raised fears among young conflict survivors that they could once again be drawn into fighting.
uncertain
they → end → fighting
The African Union-brokered agreement ended two years of war in Tigray, but key issues – including contested territory, the return of displaced people and the disarmament of Tigrayan forces – remain unresolved.
asserted
issues → broker → forces
Human Rights Watch reported in July that Tigrayan authorities and forces had forcibly recruited civilians, including children as young as 15, since at least April.
asserted
authorities → report → April
The organisation documented cases involving former combatants and other men and boys who it said were taken from streets, homes, workplaces and gold-mining areas.
asserted
it → document → streets
The allegations come as tensions between the federal government and the TPLF have risen, with both sides accusing the other of military mobilisation.
asserted
sides → come → mobilisation
Heavy fighting was also reported near Ethiopia’s border with Sudan in August.
asserted
fighting → report → August
For some young men, the response has been to leave.
asserted
response → leave → men
Leaving before they are taken
Shewit, 24, had been trying to rebuild his life after the war.
asserted
Shewit → leave → war
He was studying at Mekelle University, running a language-class business he had started about a year earlier and helping to look after his younger siblings.
asserted
he → study → siblings
But as reports of recruitment and military mobilisation increased, he said staying in Tigray began to feel unsafe.
asserted
staying → increase → Tigray
“I had already survived one war.
asserted
I → survive → war
I didn’t want to go through another,” he told Al Jazeera.
asserted
he → want → Jazeera
He eventually left for Addis Ababa, leaving behind his family, his studies and his business.
asserted
He → leave → family
“I left behind my siblings, who depended on me, and a business I had sacrificed so much to build.”
asserted
I → leave → me
He says he does not want to return unless he can bring his family with him.
asserted
he → say → him
“I don’t want to go back.
asserted
I → want → ?
In fact, if I can, I want to bring my family and my siblings here with me.”
asserted
I → want → me
Those who remember the battlefield
Gebrehiwot, 28, is still in Tigray.
asserted
Gebrehiwot → remember → Tigray
He fought during the previous war but says he does not want to return to the battlefield.
asserted
he → fight → battlefield
He says the experience changed the way he viewed the war’s political and military leadership, particularly after seeing wounded fighters and families of dead soldiers struggle after the fighting ended.
asserted
fighting → say → soldiers
“We were told that we were fighting for our people, but after the war ended, I saw wounded fighters and families of the dead being abandoned.”
asserted
fighters → tell → dead
He says reports that former combatants were being called back increased his fears.
asserted
combatants → say → fears
“Former combatant friends were being called back to the army and I heard some had been taken away forcibly.
asserted
some → call → army
I was afraid I would be next, so I left my hometown and moved to Mekelle, hoping I would not get identified here.”
Unlike Shewit and Gebru, he has not left Tigray.
asserted
he → leave → Tigray
But he says his experience of the previous war makes the prospect of another mobilisation difficult to contemplate.
asserted
prospect → say → mobilisation
“I know what the battlefield looks like.
asserted
battlefield → know → what
I don’t want to go back there and risk not coming home.”
A wider pattern
Human Rights Watch says the recruitment allegations extend beyond former fighters to civilians and young people.
asserted
allegations → want → civilians
“We found that both former fighters but also civilians – young men, sometimes boys – were being abducted, detained,” said Laetitia Bader, the organisation’s Horn of Africa director.
asserted
Bader → find → Africa
Bader said Human Rights Watch had documented cases involving minors as young as 15.
asserted
Watch → say → 15
The organisation also said a mobilisation proclamation introduced in June criminalised desertion and attempts by relatives to prevent loved ones from being conscripted.
asserted
proclamation → say → ones
For young people who survived the previous war, Bader said, the reported recruitment was another reason to flee.
“The forced conscription continues to have an impact.
asserted
conscription → survive → impact
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
