Video of Ethiopian opposition politicians forcibly deported from US is AI-generated
- Published on December 19, 2025 at 17:31
- 3 min read
- By Tolera FIKRU GEMTA, AFP Ethiopia
The United States decided to end temporary legal protections for Ethiopians in December 2025. A video now circulating online claims to show two Ethiopian opposition politicians living in the US being forcibly deported. But this is false; the video was generated using artificial intelligence tools. Moreover, the termination of Ethiopians’ temporary legal protection status is not set to take effect until February 2026.
The post shared on Facebook on December 16, 2025 includes text in Amharic which reads, “they are deported from America”.
The upper half of the 12-second video shows three men in uniforms forcibly pushing two men out of what looks like an airport and throwing luggage after them. One of the security officers displays a banner in English reading: “YOU ARE DEPORTED.”
The two men are heard pleading with the officers in English: “Please let us stay here, we have nowhere else to go now. This is our home.”
The lower half of the screen displays photos of Gedu Andargachew, a former Ethiopian foreign minister, and Lidetu Ayalew, a prominent opposition figure, both of whom live in the US.
The text and video imply that these two well-known opposition figures are being deported from the US.
Exiled politician
Gedu, who besides being a foreign minister also served as a president of Ethiopia's Amhara region and a national security adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, sought political asylum in the US after he was briefly arrested for publicly criticising the Ethiopian government in 2023.
Once a close ally of Abiy, Gedu has since become a vocal critic, calling the prime minister “ruthless” (archived here).
Lidetu, who was jailed in July 2020 following mass protests occasioned by the assassination of popular singer Hachalu Hundessa, now resides in the US after traveling there for medical treatment following his release on bail (archived here and here).
In February 2025, he told BBC Amharic that he was barred from returning to Ethiopia after being denied boarding on an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa (archived here).
Gedu and Lidetu were among a group of Ethiopian opposition politicians who held virtual discussions in June 2025 to establish a broad alliance against the ruling Prosperity Party (archived here).
Temporary Protected Status
On December 12, 2025, the US ended temporary legal protections for thousands of Ethiopian nationals, ordering them to leave the country within 60 days or face arrest and deportation (archived here).
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a US immigration program that grants temporary legal residency and work authorisations to people from countries affected by war, natural disasters, or other crises (archived here).
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that conditions in Ethiopia “no longer pose a serious threat” to returning nationals, despite ongoing violence in parts of the country.
The government announced that the policy will take effect on February 13, 2026, giving current beneficiaries two months before they no longer qualify (archived here).
However, the video that purports to show the deportation of the two Ethiopian politicians is artificially generated.
AI anomalies
AFP Fact Check identified multiple anomalies in the video that indicate it was generated using artificial intelligence.
First, the facial features do not quite match those of the real politicians as seen in publicly available photos.
Second, after the two men let go of their luggage, the suitcases continue to roll at an impossible angle, as if they had taken on a life of their own.
Later on, a suitcase appears out of nowhere in an officer's hands. Shortly after, one of the suitcases thrown by the officers changes color when it hits the ground.
Finally, the voices sound noticeably robotic, and the body movements appear stilted and unnatural -- for example, in the first few seconds, the officer on the right holds onto another officer as if attempting to restrain him. These anomalies are common indicators of AI-generated content.
Furthermore, there are no reliable news reports confirming that either Lidetu or Gedu has been detained or deported from the US. Deportations of high-profile politicians would almost certainly be covered by multiple reputable media outlets.
AFP Fact Check has previously debunked claims related to Gedu here and here.
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