The African Development Bank has decided to withdraw all of its international staff from Ethiopia immediately following the unlawful arrest and physical assault of two Addis Ababa based staff without charge or any official explanation. The office will remain open under an Officer-in-Charge.
These measures will not affect nationally recruited staff from Ethiopia who will continue their work and remain in the full employment of the Bank. The Bank will assure them and their families of its duty of care.
The Bank says these decisions follow the recent breach of diplomatic protocol and assault by Ethiopian security forces on two of the African Development Bank’s international members of staff on October 31.
“This was a gross violation of their personal diplomatic immunities, rights, and privileges under the African Development Bank Group’s Host Country Agreement with the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,” the AfDB release read.
On learning of the incident, the African Development Bank President Dr Akinwumi Adesina immediately contacted the highest levels of authority in the Ethiopian government, following which the Bank’s two staff members were released.
The African Development Bank formally communicated with the government of Ethiopia through an official note verbale on November 6 requesting a full and transparent investigation into the incident.