Just to complement what's been said, there are historical tensions between Eritrea and the population of Tigray, or at least the authorities of Tigray, who used to be the dominant force within the coalition party that ruled the country over 27 years, including during extended periods of conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. As a result, there are some historical grievances there. I believe that when the conflict broke out between the federal government and the regional forces in Tigray, the Eritreans may have seen themselves as having common interests in terms of avoiding the TPLF, the Tigray People's Liberation Front, from seeking to resume their place within the Ethiopian political structure.
This is an issue that has been on our radar for some time. In February of this year, Canada's non-resident ambassador to Eritrea, who's based at our embassy in Khartoum, met with the Eritrean chargé d’affaires to raise the issue of the Eritrean forces in Tigray, and to convey concerns about refoulement of Eritrean refugees, so Eritrean refugees who were forced to return to the country from which they were fleeing.
The issue was raised as well on March 8 when the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marc Garneau, spoke with the Ethiopian foreign minister, Minister Demeke, also conveying these concerns.
The issue was flagged once again in a joint statement by like-minded partners with the EU, the U.S., U.K., France and Germany, when we called for the withdrawal of Eritrean forces in the human rights council. That statement was signed by 41 countries.