By Shire Abdi - Reporter
Ethiopia, 18 June 2026 – The United States announced visa restrictions on members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, TPLF, on Wednesday, accusing them of obstructing efforts to resolve conflict in northern Ethiopia.
The restrictions also apply to the immediate family members of those targeted, the U.S. State Department said in a statement issued on June 17, 2026.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio authorised the measures under a provision of U.S. immigration law that allows Washington to restrict the entry of people whose presence could have serious consequences for U.S. foreign policy.
The State Department did not identify the individuals affected or say how many people would be subject to the restrictions.
Washington said tensions between TPLF hardliners and Ethiopia’s federal government risked reigniting conflict in Tigray and undermining security across the Horn of Africa.
The TPLF is a political organisation and former armed movement based in the northern Tigray region. It was the dominant force in the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition, which governed Ethiopia for nearly three decades, before losing national influence following political changes that began in 2018. The TPLF and the federal government went to war in November 2020 before signing a peace agreement in Pretoria in November 2022.
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The State Department said Tigray Security Forces and the Ethiopian National Defence Forces had clashed earlier in 2026, describing the confrontation as their first direct engagement since the end of the 2020-2022 war.
It said hundreds of thousands of civilians in northern Ethiopia had fled their homes because of fears that fighting could resume.
The visa policy targets individuals responsible for, or complicit in, undermining efforts to resolve the Tigray crisis peacefully, the department said.
“The United States will continue to stand with the Ethiopian people, including the people of Tigray, who want to live in peace and dignity,” it said.
Washington said it would continue using diplomatic and other measures to promote accountability for TPLF officials and other individuals it accused of threatening peace and stability in the region.