The European Union has postponed nearly €90m ($110m; £81m) in budget support payments to Ethiopia due to concerns over the crisis in the Tigray region.
European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero-Hernandez told the BBC there were five conditions for the aid to be resumed:
- Granting full humanitarian access for aid workers to reach people in need in all affected areas
- Allowing civilians to seek refuge in neighbouring countries
- Ethnically targeted measures and hate speech must stop
- Mechanisms to monitor, and investigate allegations of, human rights violations
- Communication lines and media access to Tigray should be fully re-established.
She said the decision “does not affect EU humanitarian programmes on the ground or other development actions”.
Government forces have been battling Tigray fighters since 4 November.
Hundreds, even thousands, of people are thought to have been killed in the conflict, while about 50,000 have fled to neighbouring Sudan.
Through [email protected] Videos and pictures can be sent to +256 726071828 on WhatsApp. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us
