Ethiopia: Despite Target to Rehabilitate 75,000 Ex-Combatants in Tigray By June, Nrc Reports Only 17,000 Reintegrated So Far

The National Rehabilitation Commission announced that, despite plans to rehabilitate 75,000 former fighters through the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) process during the first phase in the Tigray region by June, only 17,000 have completed the process so far.

Temesgen Tilahun, NRC Commissioner, told Deutsche Welle (DW) that the initiative, launched in mid-November, had been “interrupted for months” and described progress as “limited.”

Temesgen explained that political instability in the region had “posed a major obstacle,” forcing the Commission to suspend its operations. “We were forced to suspend our work,” he said, adding that “there were issues we needed to clarify,” including the screening of former combatants’ information and the “organization and handover of weapons.”

According to Temesgen, by the time activities were halted at the end of December, only “around 8,000” former combatants had completed rehabilitation and demobilization.

He noted that efforts resumed at the beginning of this month. Since then, he said, 17,000 former fighters have “disarmed, completed rehabilitation training, and reintegrated into the community.”

The Commissioner also highlighted that the restarted Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) process is currently operating out of two centers — Mekelle and Edaga Hamus — where “350 former combatants are being received daily” and provided with rehabilitation support.

The DDR program in Tigray officially began on November 21, 2024, targeting 75,000 former combatants. It is part of a broader national effort to demobilize over 371,000 former fighters from seven regions, with a budget exceeding $760 million. The first phase in Tigray is supported by 1 billion birr from the Ethiopian government and $60 million from international partners.

The NRC previously announced that 5,728 former combatants had completed reintegration training at the Mekelle and Edaga Hamus centers before operations were suspended.