Although peace talks over the Tigray conflict are close to happening, the situation is still dire enough the Department of Homeland Security granted temporary protected status to Ethiopia for 18 months.
The designation affects Ethiopian nationals who were already citizens of America as of Oct. 20, according to an Oct. 21 news release.
“The United States recognizes the ongoing armed conflict and the extraordinary and temporary conditions engulfing Ethiopia, and DHS is committed to providing temporary protection to those in need,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in the release. “Ethiopian nationals currently residing in the U.S. who cannot safely return due to conflict-related violence and a humanitarian crisis involving severe food shortages, flooding, drought and displacement, will be able to remain and work in the United States until conditions in their home country improve."
A country can be granted temporary protected status if one or more of the three legal reasons exist, according to the release. Those conditions include: ongoing armed conflict, environmental catastrophe or unusual and temporary conditions. The categorization is based on a current armed conflict as well as exceptional and temporary conditions in Ethiopia that make it impossible for people of Ethiopian origin as well as those without a nationality who had previously habitually stayed there to return home in a secure manner.
