The Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) is closely following developments in Tigray with deep concern, grave alarm and utmost repugnance. Not long ago, the TPLF leadership and its affiliated armed forces forcibly removed the Tigray Interim Administration, thereby undermining the implementation of the Pretoria Agreement and increasing the risk of renewed conflict.
Following the military takeover, GSTS continued to receive reports from credible sources at the highest levels, as well as from residents across various parts of Tigray, supported by images and video evidence, indicating large-scale forced conscription of Tigrayan youth, accompanied by house-to-house searches in several areas both daytime and at night. The same reports further indicate that young people and their families are being forced to pay bribes to evade conscription. This action violates fundamental human rights as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI), 1966) as well as the constitutions of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and that of the Tigray Regional State.
Of even greater concern is the precedent of forced conscription “Giffa” practices associated with the Government of Eritrea under the disguise of national service, involving indefinite military service and perpetual warmongering. There are now serious concerns that the TPLF is introducing similar practices in Tigray, in what appears to be an attempt to consolidate control and further intensify the militarization of the region, undermining constitutional order and civilian protections. Alongside the politicization of civil administration, the Tigray Education Bureau has ordered the early closure of schools across the Tigray region. This decision has raised serious concerns as it coincides with ongoing forcible military recruitment and allegations that students and educational institutions are being instrumentalized for political objectives.
By terrorizing the young population into submission against their conscience, the young people of Tigray may be forced into a war they neither believe in nor support. This will compound the deep division and fragmentation within the Tigrayan political community. This further represents a continuation of the militarization of politics and undermines the emerging political dispensation that GSTS and others have sought to advance toward a peaceful democratic culture and regional stability.
This forced conscription exacerbates the already unprecedented devastation of lives, property, and livelihoods caused by the genocidal war waged on the people of Tigray by the Eritrean, Amhara, and Ethiopian armed forces. In the aftermath of the war, the mass migration of youth and the widespread suffering of the Tigray population have been driven further by ongoing instability and an increasingly toxic, uncompromising, and militarized political environment in Tigray. The people of Tigray, already deliberately impoverished by the wars of pillage and plunder waged by genocidal forces, are being further impoverished by these conscriptions and the bribes they are forced to pay.
This latest forced conscription will further drive Tigrayan youth to continue fleeing, which may lead to a massive influx of displaced persons and refugees into neighboring regions and countries. This will also add to large-scale irregular migration of young people to Europe and the Middle East through fatal routes, including deaths by drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.
GSTS therefore unequivocally condemns forcible conscription in all its forms and calls upon the:
1. TPLF Leadership and Certain Army Commanders: to immediately halt the ongoing forcible conscription and coercive mobilization, and heed to the suffering and voices of the already traumatized people of Tigray and to respond to the growing calls from civil society and the international community by returning to peaceful political process and cease further militarization of politics in Tigray;
2. The Youth and General Population within Tigray: to continue rejecting and refusing any form of forced conscription. The youth of Tigray have the right to live freely and to have their constitutional and fundamental human rights respected and protected;
3. People of Tigray in Ethiopia and in the diaspora: to categorically condemn all forms of forcible conscription or coercive mobilization, and instead advocate for peace, stability, and the dignified, safe, and secure return of Tigray IDPs and refugees through the effective implementation of the Pretoria Agreement;
4. All political parties, Civil Society Organizations, and Regional Institutions in Tigray and Outside Tigray: to strongly condemn any form of forcible conscription or coercive mobilization and uphold for the protection of civilians and the youth. These entities should resort to peaceful dialogue, accountability, respect for human rights, and lawful governance; and
5. Pretoria Stakeholders; Diplomatic Community and the International Community at Large: to unequivocally condemn the ongoing forcible conscription and employ all available political and diplomatic instruments to ensure full implementation of the Pretoria Agreement through revitalization of its implementation mechanism. We further call for close monitoring of the protection of Tigray’s youth and the wider population.
https://www.gsts.org/news/urgent-press-release-on-the-ongoing-mass-forced-conscription-of-tigrayan-youth-by-the-tigray-people-s-liberation-front-tplf
The Global Society of Tigray Scholars
and Professionals (GSTS)
27 May, 2026
