On May 23, 2021 Secretary Blinken tweeted that the U.S. government was taking steps to impose visa restrictions on select Ethiopian and Eritrean politicians and government in the wake of unrelenting large-scale human atrocities in Tigray.
Shortly after Secretary Blinken’s announcement, on May 24, 2021, Assistant Secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs Robert Godec stated that the U.S. federal government was imposing “‘wide-ranging economic sanctions.” U.S. sanctions also reportedly include the curtailment of security and defense assistance.
On May 26, 2021, President Joe Biden released a statement on the crisis stating, “The large-scale human rights abuses taking place in Tigray, including widespread sexual violence, are unacceptable and must end […] All parties, in particular the Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, must allow immediate, unimpeded humanitarian access to the region in order to prevent widespread famine.”
Just recently, in June 2021, Michael McCaul, the U.S Representative for Texas, stated that “War crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide have been carried out against Tigrayan people, and according to the U.N., systematic rape and sexual violence is rampant.”