Chinese flee northern Ethiopia as civil conflict hits region
- Hundreds of workers involved in projects in Tigray head to capital for safety
- Ethiopian ambassador tries to reassure foreign community that investments not at risk and situation will be brought under control
In Beijing on Monday, Teshome Toga Chanaka, Ethiopia’s ambassador to China, said all of the Chinese citizens evacuated from the northern region of Tigray were safe in Addis Ababa and they could decide for themselves if they wanted to stay in Ethiopia or return to China.
Chanaka also sought to assure other countries that foreign investment would not be at risk and the clashes in Tigray would not escalate into a full-scale civil war.
“Ethiopia is a strategically located country – we are in the Horn of Africa, very close to the Middle East, very close to Europe. And then from here you can reach all corners of Africa,” he said.
“We are [Africa]’s second-largest country in terms of population which provides a huge domestic market … so we believe that we are still competent.
“We know that safety and security, peace and stability are key to foreign investors and that’s why we are trying to bring the situation back to normalcy, so that the economic and industrialisation process that we have started in Ethiopia could continue without major disruption.”
