In a remarkable development within the course of the implementation of the Pretoria peace agreement signed between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray Liberation Front in 2022, the Provisional Administration Command in the region announced the resumption of the program of disarmament and rehabilitation of former fighters in the front after stopping last January.
The program aims to rehabilitate about 60,000 fighters during a period of time not exceeding three months, in an attempt to compensate for the previous stumbling and achieving the region’s obligations within the framework of the agreement signed with the federal government.
This appeal comes in the context of the pledges of the new president of the Tigrai Provisional Administration General Tadisi and responds to the return of momentum to the peace process, and the completion of the outstanding items from the agreement, foremost of which is disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.
Thousands of former fighters
Although there are no official statistics announced by Tigray about the number of fighters, the former head of the region’s Getachu Administration said in a press conference in Addis Ababa that more than 270,000 former fighters are in the region are still waiting for rehabilitation and integration.
According to local estimates, only about 12,000 fighters were only completed during the previous stage of the program, before the work was stopped by the work, before the work was stopped by financing and administrative challenges.
Disarmament and demobilization
Yesterday, Wednesday, the head of the temporary administration in Tigray, General Tadisi and Wardi, announced that the implementation of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program is going with a concrete pace, noting that the first round, which targets about 75,000 former fighters, will be completed by September.
During a meeting that he gathered yesterday at the German ambassador accredited to Ethiopia, he explained and wanted that the second stage of the program will be launched in parallel with efforts to secure the constitutional situation of the Tigray region and ensure the full and safe return of the displaced to their homes, with the aim of supporting the peace process and stabilizing the pillars of stability.
These statements come at a time when the region faces great challenges related to reconstruction and confidence building between the parties.
These statements also coincided with increasing pressure to implement the Pretoria agreement in a comprehensive manner, which goes beyond the military aspects to address the fundamental political and humanitarian issues.
The progress of the rehabilitation and demobilization file is seen as a decisive test of the extent of the federal government and the temporary administration in the region to create a permanent peace environment that exceeds the effects of violence and internal wars.
Although observers and partners in the peace process view that the step to start rehabilitating Tigre fighters is a positive indication of building confidence between the parties, some political and humanitarian challenges are still in place, including reconstruction issues, accountability for violations, and the fully reintegration file into the Ethiopian federal system.
Fears and memories
In a related context, Haqoos Jabr, the former officer of the Tigrai Liberation Front forces, expressed his vision about the process of demobilization of the fighters, noting that it carries positive and disturbing effects.
He said in a statement to Al -Jazeera Net that the move can contribute to reducing the spread of weapons and manifestations of security insecurity, which are necessary elements to move to the post -war stage and build confidence, but in return it raises real concerns among sectors of the Tagrawi society.
The former officer believes that disarmament fears are mainly manifested in the event of renewed conflict, as the gathering of these fighters was not an easy task, and many of them were involved in the fighting out of protecting their areas and defending their cause.
Akidan warned that excessive focus on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs without ensuring an actual commitment by the federal government and the Tigray Liberation Front, may weaken societal confidence and expose the peace process to the risk of relapse.
Regarding the scenarios of the success of the rehabilitation and integration of Tigrai fighters as the first real test of the will of the Ethiopian parties to achieve peace, Healy Michael Gabriot, the Ethiopian journalist specializing in Tigray affairs, believes that the possibility of continuous progress in implementing the program depends on the availability of political will and institutional support from the federal government and temporary management.
Jabhariot adds, in a statement to Al -Jazeera Net, that the success of this path also depends on the cooperation of the former fighters and the provision of serious guarantees to reintegrate them into civilian life or official security structures.
If this is achieved, the process may constitute a real turning point towards stability and enhance confidence between Addis Ababa and Tagray.
Various political positions
The varying political positions in the path of the integration of Tigray fighters between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray Liberation Front are a point of intersection between peace priorities, influence accounts, and balance of ethnic powers in the country.
Ethiopian political journalist and political analyst Emmanuel Jabr Amidoun believes that the swinging political will between Addis Ababa and the old guards at the Tigray Liberation Front, which dominates the region, is a challenge to the success of the process of reintegrating the fighters.
Amidoun said, in a statement to Al -Jazeera Net, that the increasing divisions within the Tigray Liberation Front, especially in light of the controversy over the legitimacy of General Tadisi and Winy, represented a dangerous turn regarding the return of the conflict again to the region.
Amidhon added that the rejection of some factions is the process of disarmament without clear guarantees that may slow down or disrupt the implementation, and that the absence of full coordination between the federal government and the interim administration may contribute to the complexity of the scene.
Although the federal government, led by Abi Ahmed, adopts a publicly supportive stance of the peace track, including the reintegration of Tigray fighters, circles within the regime are afraid that the integration of fighters into the security institutions will lead to a possible penetration or rebuilding military influence networks of an ethnic nature, which restores to the minds what was known as the “deep state” before Abi Ahmed came to power.
