On 12 June 2019 Borkena reported that Debretsion Gebremichael told The Reporter Ethiopian private newspaper that people in Tigray had developed a sentiment for secession because of what he called deliberate ethnic attacks, including dismissals of Tigrayans from federal jobs and alleged attempts to close highways into the region.
Speaking two days after hosting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Aksum, Debretsion said TPLF leaders were still urging people to struggle from inside the federation, while opposition figures in Tigray accused the TPLF of using secession talk as a political card.
Kept as politics archive, the Borkena report dates Debretsion’s June 2019 secession-sentiment warning during a tense federal–Tigray period.
Sources: Borkena