In its most recent effort to reestablish connections with its neighbours, Eritrea has rejoined an East African regional organisation that it quit 16 years prior.
To protest Ethiopian troops’ involvement in Somalia to drive out its Islamist leadership, the Asmara government left the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa (IGAD) in 2007.
“Eritrea resumed its activity in IGAD and took its seat at the 14th Ordinary Summit in Djibouti,” Information Minister Yemane Meskel wrote on Twitter late on Monday after the summit. He did not say what had prompted the decision but said Eritrea wanted to join other IGAD members and help advance peace and stability in the region.
Eritrea, which has been ruled by Isaias Afwerki since gaining independence from Ethiopia in 1993, fought a bloody border war with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000, and has repeatedly fallen out with its neighbours.
Additionally, it is subject to EU and US penalties for allegedly violating human rights. It has, however, made efforts in recent years to mend regional connections.
It formally ended the state of war that had existed since the border conflict by signing a peace agreement with Ethiopia in 2018, and it also re-established diplomatic connections with Somalia and normalised relations with Djibouti.
It has also improved ties with Kenya, which earlier this year announced plans to establish an embassy there.
Still, human rights groups say Afwerki’s rule remains as repressive as ever, pointing to forced military conscription that continues to drive thousands to flee the country each year.
Eritrea also drew international condemnation for alleged atrocities committed by its soldiers during the 2020-2022 war in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where they fought in support of Ethiopian troops against Tigrayan forces. Eritrea has denied those allegations.
