In recent months, the Biden administration has announced designation or renewal of temporary protections for immigrants from a number of nations facing humanitarian crises and political upheaval, including Venezuela, Afghanistan, Cameroon, and, most recently, Burma. Ukraine also received a designation, which the Biden administration then expanded in April.
But despite “experiencing one of the most catastrophic humanitarian disasters in the world,” Ethiopia remains missing from this list after repeated pleas that “have previously been joined by members of Congress,” advocates said. More than 100 organizations have signed onto a letter continuing to urge the Biden administration to act on relief including Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
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“Ethiopia is currently experiencing one of the most catastrophic humanitarian disasters in the world,” the Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure Administrative Advocacy Coalition (TPS-DED AAC) members said, with civilian populations terrorized by violence that includes ethnic cleansing and torture.
“There is widespread targeted destruction of public infrastructure, including health care facilities and schools,” the organizations continued. “The humanitarian crisis and climate crisis have resulted in food insecurity, lack of access to medicine and fuel, and the worst drought documented in the country in the last forty years.”
The coalition said that an estimated 30,000 Ethiopians currently in U.S. could benefit from TPS designation, which protects immigrants from being returned to civil conflict, natural disaster, and other life-threatening conditions. The designation critically protects these immigrants from deportation for a period of 18 months. The organizations said more than 2,100 Ethiopian students could also be protected through another provision called Special Student Relief (SSR).
“The delay in designating TPS in the face of the extreme conditions in Ethiopia flies in the face of Congressional intent and calls into question racial disparity in TPS decision-making,” the coalition said. Advocates won a designation for Cameroon this past April, but it took years. For comparison, Ukraine’s designation for TPS came within 10 days of Russia’s unprovoked invasion. Similarly lacking relief has been Mauritania, where persons deported from the U.S. may face violence, enslavement, even death.
Dr. Tsehaye Teferra, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Ethiopian Community Development Council, said: “[W]e are urging, once more, for a proportionate humanitarian response from the United States government.”
“There have been documented cases and reports of extra-judicial killings, massacres, gender-based violence, forced displacement, and the internment of civilians in Ethiopia,” Teferra said in a statement received by Daily Kos. “Moreover, more than five million people in the region are facing famine. The situation calls for swift humanitarian action. It is vitally important to designate TPS for Ethiopians who have fled the civil war.”
“There is nothing temporary about the lives that Ethiopians in the United States have built here,” said Lora Adams, campaign coordinator of TPS-DED AAC. "They have grown homes and businesses and are integral to the social fabric of their communities. Ethiopians in the United States need humanitarian protection, and the delay is telling. Ethiopia is in the throes of a massive crisis and is in no position to receive an estimated 30,000 of its citizens in the middle of worsening conflict. TPS protects recipients from deportation to untenable conditions, allowing them to work and live without fear.”
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