German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting Ethiopia and plans to meet with its prime minister on issues including the country’s newly declared state of emergency.
This East African country, one of Africa’s best-performing economies, declared its first state of emergency in a quarter-century Sunday, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms.
Merkel’s African tour is meant to highlight the global migration crisis and security issues. Ethiopia is one of the world’s largest hosts of refugees, with hundreds of thousands having fled from nearby Somalia, South Sudan and elsewhere.
But a German government spokeswoman says Merkel will also “of course clearly address human rights” in Ethiopia.
The deaths of more than 50 people in a protest-linked stampede last week led to a week of demonstrations.
