OPEN LETTER FROM A COALITION OF GLOBAL AMHARA DIASPORA ORGANIZATIONS

Urgent need for reassessment of budgetary assistance for the criminal regime in Ethiopia, currently led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

June 1, 2026 (Ginbot 24, 2018 E.C.)

We the undersigned Amhara civic organizations write this open letter to express grave concern over the recent announcement by the European Union (EU) of resumption of budgetary support and strengthened partnership with the Oromo Prosperity Party (OPP) led Prosperity Party (PP) regime of Ethiopia. The announcement mentioned resumption of budget support, economic support, and investments with assurances of future commitments. We understand that the EU has provided extensive humanitarian and development support to the Ethiopian people in the past. However, we strongly believe that unfettered support of any kind to the regime in Ethiopia would be to the detriment of both the Ethiopian people and to the member states of the EU.

Below, we have provided a brief situation overview followed by a series of recommendations related to the announced items and in pursuit of lasting peace and stability which would be mutually beneficial to all parties.

Situation Overview

Under the PP regime, Ethiopia has been embroiled in consecutive wars leading to disruptions in daily life, regional instability, and economic decline. As it stands tens of millions of people continue to suffer throughout the country with strong indications that the crisis may spill across borders into a regionalized conflict.

First and foremost, the armed forces of the PP regime in Ethiopia have been implicated in a pattern of gross violations of international law. Numerous organizations have reported patterns of violations with hallmarks of genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes against Amhara people in the Amhara, Oromo, and Benishangul-Gumuz Regions various other parts of Ethiopia. According to data collected by the Amhara Association of America (AAA) since August 2023 the Ethiopian National Defense Force has carried out more than 376 aerial strikes (drone and airstrikes) resulting in upwards of 1,714 civilian casualties. Aerial strikes and heavy artillery shelling have systematically targeted civilian gatherings, health centers, schools, and sites of worship. Throughout the war, the armed forces of the PP regime have carried out weaponized sexual violence against young girls and women with over one hundred cases a day.

The regime’s campaign of impunity has extended to deliberate attacks on public facilities throughout the country. Since the onset of the armed conflict more than 6,000 schools have been forced to close leaving over 4.4 million children out of school in the Amhara Region. The PP regime’s armed forces not only targeted schools but converted hundreds into military outposts often destroying education supplies.

For several years the PP regime has carried out mass arrests and abductions targeting citizens on the basis of their ethnic identity and alleged political views. Though the targeting began with opposition figures, civil society leaders, independent journalists and human rights advocates – the campaign has since intensified to target individuals from all walks of life. In connection with the war on Amhara, hundreds of mothers have been detained with their young children on accusation of familial ties with anti-state combatants. Overall, tens of thousands of innocent civilians are being held in federal, regional and zonal detention facilities.

Emboldened by lack of international scrutiny the PP regime has intensified acts of interference in neighboring states as a proxy of the United Arab Emirates. Notable is the PP regime’s role in fuelling the deadly civil war in Sudan as reported by the Yale School of Public Health. If the regime is allowed to continue its genocidal war on Amhara and its foreign meddling, it could fuel the already dire migrant crisis.

Genocidal violence against Amhara people has been ongoing for decades since the ethnic federalism system was imposed in Ethiopia. Over this period the Amhara people have been targeted through massacres, mass detentions in concentration camps, forced contraception, demolition of homes, ethnic profiling and enforcing sieges through the disruption of road access, electricity, communication, and water supplies. Therefore, current trends under the last eight years of the OPP led PP regime are an intensification and continuation of decades of abuses by the Tigray People ' s Liberation Front dominated Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. Genocide Prevention in Ethiopia (GPE) led research informed by field data, survivor testimonies and official documents indicate that deliberate statistical erasure as well as physical elimination of the Amhara people occurred in staggering numbers during this period. For example, since 1991 an estimated 4 million Amhara people have been displaced from various parts of Ethiopia.

Proposed Steps

To help mitigate regional instability and advance the mutual interests of the Ethiopian people and the member states of the EU, we urge the EU to consider the following recommendations:

• Freeze Fiscal Aid – Immediately halt all direct budgetary support to prevent the cooptation of European financial reserves for state-led military campaigns and atrocities.

  
  

• Redirect Funding Strategically – Route vital aid (healthcare, education, and food security) entirely away from state channels, distributing it exclusively through independent humanitarian, international, and civil society organizations.

  
  

• Promote Independent Investigations – Mandate unfettered, immediate access for international human rights bodies to investigate human rights violations in the context of the war in Amhara Region and more broadly violence in neighboring areas.

  
  

• Impose Targeted Sanctions – Implement asset freezes and travel bans against military commanders and political officials responsible for atrocities, inciting hatred and violence, and coopting aid.

Signatories

1. International Amhara Associations Union (IAAU)

2. International Amhara Movement (IAM)

3. Amhara Diaspora Global Forum (ADGF)

4. International Fano Coordinating Committee (IFCC)

5. Amhara Association in Belgium

6. Support Amhara Group in Belgium

7. Amhara Association in France

8. Verein zur Förderung des Amhara-Volkes Berlin e.V.

9. Hoffnung Amhara Verein in NRW, Germany

10. Verein der Amhara in Deutschland e.V.

11. Amhara Relief Association Munich, Germany

12. Amhara Verein in Nürenberg, Deutschland

13. Amhara Union in München/Deutschland e.V.

14. Amhara Association in Milano, Italy

15. Amhara Association in Italy

16. Amhara Association in Netherlands

17. Hibir Amhara Norway

18. Amhara Association Sweden

19. Amhara Support Association, Switzerland

20. Amhara Association in Switzerland

21. Birmingham Amhara Association (UK)

22. Amhara Community in UK

23. United Amhara Association (UK)

24. Metekel International Support Group, UK

25. London Fano, UK

26. Amhara Heroes Trust, UK

27. Canadian Amhara Societies Alliance (CASA)

28. Federation of Amharas in North America (FANA)

29. Amhara Association in Ottawa, Canada

30. Amhara Association of Calgary, Canada

31. Amhara Association of Manitoba, Canada

32. Amhara Community in Toronto and GTA, Canada

33. Amhara Humanitarian & Development Society of Edmonton (AHDSE), Canada

34. Amhara International Alliance (AIA)

35. Amhara Organization in Greater Toronto Area, Canada

36. Amhara Society Social Forum (London, Ontario), Canada

37. Dejen for Amhara Survival (WaterlooWellington, Ontario), Canada

38. Edmonton Amhara Association, Canada

39. Fidel Amhara Community Organization, Canada

40. Solidarity for Families of Amhara Political Prisoners, Canada

41. Amhara Association of America (AAA)

42. Amhara Professionals Union (APU)

43. International Gondar Amhara Unity Association

44. Genocide Prevention in Ethiopia (GPE)

45. Amhara Guard Strategic Studies Group (AGSSG), USA

46. Amhara Association in Dallas (AAD), USA

47. Amhara Association of Bay Area (AABA), USA

48. Amhara Association of Nevada (AAN), USA

49. Amhara Association in Georgia (AAG), USA

50. D.C. Joint Task Force, USA

51. Amhara Association of Oregon (AAO), USA

52. Amhara Association of Michigan (AAM), USA

53. Amhara Mahber of Arizona (AMA), USA

54. Amhara Association in Los Angeles (AALA), USA

55. Amhara Association in Buffalo, New York, USA

56. Amhara Association in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

57. Amhara Association of California (San Diego), USA

58. Amhara Association of Chicago (AAC), USA

59. D.C. and the Surrounding Area Amhara People’s Coordinator, USA

60. D.C. Fano, USA

61. Seattle Amhara Association (SAA), USA

62. Washington Area Amhara Association (WAAA), USA

63. DMV Amhara Task Force, USA

64. Amhara People Survival Struggle Supporting Task Force, Minnesota, USA

65. DC Joint Task Force, USA

66. D.C. and Surrounding Amhara Association, USA

67. Amhara Association of Colorado, USA

68. Aba Baheri’s Platform, USA

69. Amhara Heritage Society of Minnesota (AHSM), USA

70. Amhara Association in Nashville, Tennessee, USA

71. Amhara Association of Nebraska (AAN), USA

72. Ghion Amhara Association, USA

73. Amhara Association in Houston, USA

74. Amhara Association in Indiana, USA

75. Amhara Memorial Society, USA

76. Amhara Unity Melbourne, Australia

77. Queensland Amhara Association, Australia

78. Amhara Association in Sydney NSW, Australia

79. Amhara Youth Association in WA, Australia

80. Amhara Association in Perth WA, Australia

81. Amhara Association in Adelaide SA, Australia

82. Tasmania Amhara Association, Australia

83. Amhara Support, Relief & Rehabilitation Association Incorporated, Christchurch, New Zealand

84. Amhara and Amhara Families of Ethiopian Association in Auckland Incorporated, New Zealand

85. Amhara Families Society of Wellington Incorporated, New Zealand

86. All United Amharas Association, South Africa

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