Ethiopia–Eritrea Tensions: What Organisations Should Review Now

Published 14 October 2026. Reporting and travel advice checked on this date. The recommendations below are planning considerations, not confirmation that particular routes are available.

Renewed tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea are creating a more uncertain operating environment for organisations with personnel, projects or business travel in northern Ethiopia. The immediate issue for employers is whether their existing travel approvals, communication arrangements and contingency assumptions still reflect conditions on the ground.

Reuters reported on 13 October that Ethiopian government troops had advanced to Zalambessa, near the Eritrean border, according to sources in contact with residents. Eritrea has denied allegations that its forces entered Ethiopia. The competing accounts and diplomatic efforts to prevent a wider conflict make careful verification essential. 

Travel restrictions already affect northern Ethiopia

The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Tigray and Amhara, with additional restrictions covering areas of Afar and the Eritrean border. Its current guidance states that civilian flights to and from Tigray were suspended on 22 September and warns that other northern services may change at short notice. 

The regional advice also says foreign nationals are currently unable to travel to airports in Afar because of restrictions imposed by Ethiopian authorities. Organisations should therefore avoid assuming that a nearby airport provides a usable departure option.  These conditions require assessments at the level of the actual itinerary. A meeting in Addis Ababa, a journey through Afar and a deployment in Tigray cannot be treated as equivalent simply because they are in the same country.

Recheck the assumptions behind every movement

A travel approval can become outdated when a journey changes. An employee may arrive for meetings in the capital and subsequently be asked to visit a project, supplier or client elsewhere. That additional movement needs its own assessment. Confirm where personnel are located, which journeys are planned, whether local providers can still deliver the agreed support, and whether accommodation remains appropriate. Include consultants and visiting teams in the review, alongside employees.

The same discipline applies to road journeys. FCDO guidance identifies fuel shortages, possible network disruption and road closures as considerations in Ethiopia. A route that appears open on a map may still be unsuitable because of security conditions, vehicle range or the inability to obtain help along the way. 

Establish decisions before conditions force them

An effective contingency plan should define what changes the organisation’s response. Relevant triggers might include a restriction affecting the planned route, loss of a confirmed flight, prolonged inability to contact personnel or a change in official advice. Each trigger needs an identified decision-maker and an action. Otherwise, a monitoring team can report deterioration without anyone knowing whether to suspend travel, relocate personnel or maintain operations with additional support.

Where risks are already unacceptable, pausing or deferring a journey should be considered before deployment. Where personnel are already present, the assessment should account for the risks of movement as well as remaining in place. These decisions should be documented and communicated in language the traveller can understand.

Separate relocation from evacuation

Contingency planning should consider more than a single instruction to leave the country. Depending on verified conditions, the appropriate response might be to cancel an internal journey, remain temporarily at a suitable location, relocate within the country or arrange an international departure.

For people in Tigray, the FCDO currently advises sheltering in place and leaving by commercial means when they judge it safe to do so. This is an important reminder that immediate movement is not always the safer choice. 

Road departures require an assessed route, lawful access, reliable transport and receiving arrangements. Charter aviation requires operating airports, permissions and an operator willing to accept the mission. Neither option should be presented as available until the necessary checks have been completed.

Protect welfare and maintain communication

Operational plans should cover the period before departure, not only the movement itself. Personnel may need medication, access to suitable food and water, additional accommodation or support for dependants.

Set a proportionate check-in schedule and a clear process for missed contact. Keep an alternative means of communication where feasible and make important instructions available offline. Monitoring should respect privacy and be limited to information needed to support the response. onfirm who can approve emergency expenditure and how the organisation would pay providers if normal processes are interrupted. An agreed plan can stall if the person authorising accommodation or transport is unavailable outside office hours.

Keep the wider business response connected

A deterioration in travel conditions may affect project schedules, supplier visits and client commitments. Operations, HR, security, finance and management should work from the same information and understand who owns each decision. Plans should also address local staff and essential functions. The ability to move an international visitor does not resolve the welfare of employees who remain or establish that a site can continue operating.

Where services must pause, determine which activities can be performed remotely, how staff will be paid and supported, and which conditions would permit a return. Avoid promising a restart date before the operating assumptions have been checked.

Stratum Global Risk’s Corporate Travel Risk Management⁠ approach connects travel assessment, personnel support and organisational decision-making. Our Evacuation & Crisis Response Model⁠ explains how planning can remain connected to communication and operational response.