By Dr. Greg Cochran 

International Christian Concern (ICC) and other such organizations recently celebrated the Trump administration’s decision to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (officially adding the African nation to the CPC list).  

While ICC celebrated this move, the organization also continued to point out that evil never rests. Jihadist forms of Islam are infiltrating Southeast Asia. And a possible genocide of the Tigray people is taking place in Ethiopia.  

While much attention was given to Ethiopia from 2020 to 2022, a period categorized as The Tigray War, the targeting of the Tigray people has not stopped. A U.N. report from October 2023 documented that crimes against humanity were still being committed, even though a peace agreement was signed in November 2022. More recently, New Lines Institute issued a comprehensive 120-page report in 2024.  

According to the report, crimes against the Tigray people can rightly be termed “genocide.” The report establishes the significance of a declaration of genocide:  

“This report has considered in particular whether some or all of this conduct potentially amounts to genocide. This is significant because genocide not only occasions individual criminal responsibility, if proven, but also the duties and associated responsibilities of States, notably under the Genocide Convention (of which Ethiopia was an original signatory and, from 1 July 1949, is a ratified State Party). Likewise, Ethiopia bears corresponding obligations under customary international law.”  

On the clear, legal definition of genocide, the report reaches this conclusion:  

“This report concludes that, on the evidence currently available, there is a reasonable basis to believe that members of the ENDF [Ethiopian National Defense Force], the Amhara Special Forces (“ASF”), and the EDF [Eritrean Defense Force] have committed genocide against Tigrayans.”  

Finally, the report specifies four aspects of genocide committed by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces:  

“With the intent described in this report, there is a reasonable basis to believe that EDF, ASF, and ENDF members carried out at least four acts constituting the crime of genocide: killing Tigrayans, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life upon Tigrayans calculated to bring about their destruction, and imposing measures intended to prevent births among Tigrayans.”  

Who are the Tigrayans? Why such animus against them by Eritrea and Ethiopian forces? The Washington Times recently answered these questions. The Tigrayans are an ancient Christian community located in a strategic region of the Horn of Africa.  

“Tigray is not a footnote in history,” the Washington Times stated. “It is the cradle of African Christianity, the land of the Queen of Sheba, the Kingdom of Axum, and the Ark of the Covenant. Its rock-hewn churches, older than many European cathedrals, are among the holiest sites in the world. Today, those sanctuaries lie in ruins, deliberately shelled by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces. Priests and worshippers have been executed, and ancient manuscripts and crosses, stolen from monasteries, have been surfacing on online marketplaces.”  

Losing the Tigray people would mean erasing more than a millennium and a half of history. But more than history might be lost. Robert Wilkie, undersecretary of defense for personnel readiness under the first Trump administration, points out that this genocide would mark a significant strategic loss as well. The Tigray people have historically valued and even fought for freedom, self-determination, and democratic ideals aligned with Western interests. Indeed, these values contribute to the animus against them.  

The Tigray people occupy a region of the Horn of Africa notable for its trade routes. Wilkie notes that this is “a region that borders the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, through which 12% of global trade passes. Whoever controls this corridor controls the arteries of global commerce and energy.” 

Given the strategic significance of the region, China, Iran, and Russia have armed and financed a portion of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s regime in Ethiopia.  

While these nations are invested in the region, forming what Wilkie calls a new “Islamo-Marxist axis,” the West remains largely silent and hesitant. If Wilkie’s observations are correct, these developments demand attention, not silence. Wilkie recommends four specific, non-violent actions. He emphasizes that the Tigray people aren’t asking for American soldiers, just for America’s voice, speaking out against the atrocities and evil actions of bad actors.  

Wilkie proposes the following four actions:  

• First, [the U.S.] must formally recognize the genocide in Tigray. Language matters; to call this a “civil war” is to excuse barbarism.  
• Second, the Trump-Vance administration should impose targeted sanctions on Ethiopian, Eritrean, and foreign officials responsible for the atrocities and on those supplying the weapons.  
• Third, we must establish secure humanitarian corridors that deliver aid to the starving.  
• Finally, the U.S. should lead a coalition of democratic nations to protect Ethiopia’s remaining Christian heritage and stabilize the Horn of Africa.  

Regardless of U.S. policy and the Trump Administration’s actions (or even inactions in this case), Christians must remain diligent and obedient. Christians have clear instructions from the Scriptures to “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:9-10, ESV).  

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