The Danger of Forcing a Choice Under Duress: Rejecting the Premature Return of Displaced Tigrayans
By Mersea Kidan
In the aftermath of the genocidal war waged on Tigray, the situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) remains one of the most urgent humanitarian and political challenges. Despite this, a growing number of voices, some tragically from within the Tigrayan community itself, have started suggesting that displaced Tigrayans should be given the option to return to their homes, even while those homes remain under the control of the very forces responsible for the atrocities committed against them. This proposal is not only dangerous but also morally bankrupt and politically disastrous. It ignores the trauma inflicted on civilians, legitimizes the presence of genocidal actors on Tigrayan land, and plays directly into the hands of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his centralist allies. It must be rejected unequivocally.
Choosing Under Duress Is Not a Real Choice — It Is Inhumane
To frame the issue as a “choice” for displaced Tigrayans, whether to return or remain displaced, is to mask coercion as freedom. The notion of choice under conditions of duress, trauma, and occupation is inherently flawed. One cannot speak of free will where security, justice, and dignity are absent.
More than just flawed logic, however, asking people to make such a decision under these conditions is deeply inhumane. These are individuals and families who were violently uprooted from their homes, often under the threat of death or sexual violence, and in many cases after witnessing unimaginable atrocities. For them, “return” is not a matter of logistics, it is a matter of life, death, and dignity. To offer the illusion of choice while their towns and villages remain under the occupation of the very same forces that committed genocide against them is to re-inflict psychological violence.
Displacement caused by genocide is not just a matter of physical removal; it is a severing of safety, identity, and memory. Asking IDPs to return before their safety is secured and their lands are liberated amounts to forcing them to choose between continued displacement and re-traumatization. It is a cruel dilemma, one that places the burden on the victims, rather than demanding accountability from the perpetrators.
International humanitarian norms, including the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, clearly state that return must be voluntary, safe, dignified, and informed. These are not bureaucratic niceties. They are essential safeguards to protect the most vulnerable. None of these criteria are currently met in western Tigray and other occupied areas. There is no guarantee of safety. There is no justice. There is no restoration of land or livelihood. In such a context, asking people to “choose” is not a humane offer, it is a manipulative trap.
Psychologically, the consequences are devastating. For a survivor of massacre or sexual violence, returning to the site of that trauma while the perpetrators remain in control is a form of re-victimization. It can deepen PTSD, fuel intergenerational trauma, and destroy any hope of meaningful recovery. A displaced mother who watched her child be executed cannot simply return to that same village and rebuild her life under the watch of the same militias who committed those acts. To frame such a decision as voluntary or rational is profoundly insensitive and morally indefensible.
The Beneficiary: Abiy Ahmed and His Political Agenda
There is only one clear beneficiary of the premature return of IDPs to occupied Tigrayan territory: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. This scenario would provide him with the political cover to claim that the humanitarian crisis in Tigray is resolved. He could then declare that the next step is Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR), which would effectively target the military capacity of Tigray while leaving its people under occupation.
This sequence of events serves Abiy’s strategic interests. By pushing DDR before the full restoration of Tigray’s territorial integrity, he seeks to permanently weaken Tigray’s self-defense mechanisms and institutional capacity. He aims to present the crisis as resolved in the eyes of international observers, while in reality, the core grievances of displacement, occupation, and justice remain unaddressed.
In this sense, the premature return of IDPs is not a humanitarian solution but a political maneuver; one that aligns perfectly with Abiy’s agenda of centralizing power, neutralizing regional autonomy, and suppressing the Tigrayan national movement.
Enabling the Disintegration of the Tigray Nation
Those who advocate for this position from within the Tigrayan community, knowingly or unknowingly, are enabling the disintegration of the Tigray nation. By entertaining the idea of return under occupation, they undermine the collective struggle for justice and territorial restoration. They send the message that Tigrayans must accept subjugation and live side by side with their tormentors, without accountability or redress. This undermines the cohesion and determination of a people who have already endured immense suffering and loss.
Moreover, such proposals fracture the unity of purpose within the Tigrayan resistance. They create divisions between those who insist on justice and restitution before return, and those willing to normalize the current reality for the sake of short-term optics. This fragmentation weakens Tigray’s negotiating position and inadvertently strengthens Abiy and Shewa’s long-term objective: to dilute Tigray’s national identity and destroy its capacity to exist as a strong, self-determined entity within Ethiopia or outside of it.
The Path Forward: Justice, Unity, and Full Restoration
The legitimate path forward begins with one uncompromising demand: the full and unconditional return of all occupied Tigrayan territories. Only then can discussions about IDP return take place. This is not merely a political precondition; it is a moral imperative. Return must be safe, voluntary, and dignified, not coerced, surveilled, or manipulated.
Furthermore, those responsible for the displacement and genocide must face real justice, both through international mechanisms and community-based truth and reconciliation. Without justice, there can be no sustainable peace. And without the restoration of land, there can be no meaningful return.
At this moment, there should be no division among Tigrayans on this fundamental issue. The question of territorial integrity and the return of our people is not a matter of debate ; it is a matter of survival. Every Tigrayan, regardless of political affiliation, background, or region, must stand united in rejecting the premature return of IDPs under occupation. We must collectively demand the removal of genocidal forces, the liberation of Tigrayan land, and the dignified return of our people to their rightful homes.
Unity is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Disagreements on secondary matters cannot be allowed to distract us from the central truth: Tigray cannot be whole without its land and its people. Any voice that seeks to separate one from the other; that suggests return without restoration, is not speaking for Tigray’s future but for its disintegration.
Conclusion
To propose that displaced Tigrayans should “choose” whether or not to return to homes still occupied by genocidal forces is to betray the very principles of justice, dignity, and human rights. It is a deeply unethical proposition that benefits only those who seek to erase Tigray’s national identity and whitewash the crimes committed against it. We must be clear-eyed about who benefits from this line of thinking, and resolutely rejecting it.
The people of Tigray deserve justice, freedom, and full restoration. Anything less is complicity in their continued suffering. Let us be united in voice, in purpose, and in principle. The return of IDPs must not happen until every force that carried out genocide is gone. Only then can return be real, and only then can peace be just.
Mersea Kidan
Mersea.kidan@gmail.com
