Ethiopia says disputed western Tigray will be settled in a referendum and displaced people returned

Associated Press

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s federal government says the future of contested land in its northern Tigray region will be settled by a referendum, and hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people will be returned. Monday’s announcement came one year after a cease-fire ended a devastating civil war there. The disputed status of western Tigray, which borders Sudan, was a key flashpoint in the two-year conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the government. Western Tigray belongs to Tigray under Ethiopia’s constitution, but it was occupied by forces from the neighbouring province of Amhara, which claims the area as its own.