In the past decade the number of refugees in eastern Africa has nearly tripled, from1.82 million in 2012 to almost five million todayincluding 300,000 new refugees last year alone. Out of this, the Assosa Zone has 42 seats while Metekel and Kamashi zones have 33 and 20 seats respectively. Afari said, I do not rule out any Egyptian and Sudanese efforts to use the rebels in Ethiopia as a pressure card and to provide them with weapons, in light of the difficult choice to head to a direct war and in an attempt to deter Ethiopia from taking unilateral actions., Samir Ghattas, a former Egyptian member of parliament and head of the Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor, Egypt is in a difficult positionas Ethiopia insists on the second filling of the GERD, and given the difficulty to go into a direct war out of fear of international reactions. Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East, Ethiopian PM accuses Egypt, Sudan of backing unrest in western region. But if the ethnic federal framework is altered by the Prosperity Party, that would affect the interests of the majority Gumuz community profoundly. " The Benishangul-Gumuz region borders Sudan and South Sudan. The spiraling situation in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region These interest groups include actors from the neighbouring Amhara state who claim ownership of the Metekkel zone. The five largest ethnic groups in Benishangul-Gumuz were the Berta (27%), Gumuz (23%), Amhara (22%), Oromo (13%) and Shinasha (7%). The area comprising Benishangul-Gumuz formally became part of Ethiopia under the terms of a Nile-focused 1902 treaty signed by Emperor Menelik II with Great Britain, which ruled Sudan. Over 80 killed in attack in Ethiopian border region with Sudan - state The sun rises behind the skyline of Egypt's capital Cairo and its Nile river island of Manial, Nov. 3, 2022. Advertisement . Egypts Al-Bawaba News, which is close to the state, reported in an April 23 article that a civil war is unfolding in Ethiopia due to the poor economic and social conditions in the country and its citizens being marginalized and isolated. Lifelines: exchange marriage among the Gumuz. The Benishangul Gumuz Peoples Liberation Movement (BPLM) was Sudan based rebel group built its operational zones in Benishangul Gumuz Region around remote areas of Assosa zone. Eritrean writer and analyst Shifa al-Afari told Al-Monitor that the Benishangul-Gumuz region is currently seeing unprecedented tension that could be characterized as a state of war. According to him, this is the first time that this armed group, which took control of the county, and these weapons appear in the region. Memos - premium analytical writing: actionable insights on markets and geopolitics. 1981. There have been repeated episodes of intercommunal violence over the years. The number of hungry people in the Sahel and West Africa hasquadrupledover the last three years, currently reaching41 million, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday. In the previous census, conducted in 1994, the region's population was reported to be 460,459 of which 233,013 were men and 227,446 were women. Metekkel residents, including the majority Gumuz community, are opposed to Amhara occupation. As many social institutions and homes are destroyed, things like infrastructure building and support for reconstructing homes need to be considered. [4] Background [ edit] Ethnic tensions [ edit] Of course, fulfilling the preconditions requires coordinated and concerted action among humanitarian organizations and government entities. The risk of domestic violence is rising. Sudan: Blue Nile State Profile (Updated March 2022) - Sudan That means the election will only take place in Benishangul-Gumuzs Assosa Zone. With widespread instability and difficulty reaching IDPs, victims of violence are out of arms reach from humanitarian assistancewhether from the regional government or from national and international non-governmental organizations. Ethiopia's new party is welcome news, but faces big hurdles. This was followed by the killing of over 80 people in a place called Daleti in Metekel Zone. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been a part of a contentious decade-long dispute involving Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. Klausberger, Friedrich. The Benishangul-Gumuz conflict was an armed conflict mostly in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in Ethiopia that started in 2019, until peace agreement signed between the rebel groups and the government of Ethiopia in October 2022. It hosts more than 70,000 refugees from those countries, as well as more than a half-million Ethiopians internally displaced by. Until yesterday, 3,364 people from 62 countries entered Ethiopia through Amhara region; 91 people from seven countries received through Kurmuk border crossing point, located in Benishangul-Gumuz region. Note Etnografiche. Billene Seyoum, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Abiy, did not respond to questions about the violence. In. Many Gumuz became sedentary while continuing their agricultural system. Alessandro Triulzi, "Asosa", in: Siegbert Uhlig (Hrsg.). It was fighting the government of Ethiopia for more than 17 years and committed hundreds of deaths and huge number of displacements in the region until peace deal . Before picking a side, it is important to put the agreement between the militias and the regional government into perspective. 505 from Sudan 1,054 from Somalia and 25,947 from South Sudan (NRC, 2014). According to the CSA, as of 2004[update], 27.23% of the total population had access to safe drinking water, of whom 22.35% were rural inhabitants and 58.53% were urban. The growth in refugee numbers has not been matched by a growth in resources, forcing WFP to make difficult decisions about who receives food assistance and who goes without. Prioritize your target industries for weekly review: We also offer team plans. By drawing a bad lesson, other groups may also end up emulating similar measures. The rights group said the Gumuz set the homes on fire and stabbed and shot residents. If you dont influence it now then the circumstances will build so that there are more and more refugees coming.. Material support, which has thus far been in short supply, should be accompanied by psychosocial support. Turmoil blocks aid as communal conflict rages in gold-seamed Learn how your comment data is processed. Slaves were also smuggled into Sudan across the border, which was established in 1902. There have been reports that the Ethiopian National Defense Forces took measure on up to 500 youths reportedly coming from Sudan with training and armament. Meanwhile, the security response in Benishangul-Gumuz is not showing any capability of de-escalation. In several parts of the Gumuz area, the settlers' economy dominated by 2018. The region has 20 weredas and two Special Weredas making three Zones of the region. Fighting broke out on 18 January in the town of Tongo - reportedly between unidentified armed groups and federal forces - and the nearby camp . [7], In the Metekel conflict, starting in 2019, Gumuz militia were allegedly involved in attacks against Amhara, Agaw, Oromo and Shinasha civilians.[8][9][10]. Concise, actionable scenarios and predictions from top regional experts. Bambasi (also known as Abba Moti) is a town in western Ethiopia. While the world is focusing on the humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia caused by the war between the federal government and the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, brutal repetitive attacks have taken place in the Metekkel zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz state in western Ethiopia. Join over 50,000 readers who access our journalists dedicated newsletters, covering the top political, security, business and tech issues across the region each week.Delivered straight to your inbox. I have no confidence in the proposed solution. Main languages are the Berta (25.15%), Amharic (22.46%), Gumuz (20.59%), Oromo (17.69%), Shinasha (4.58%) and Awngi (4.01%). Uzar, Henning. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Benshangul-Gumuz Regional Health Bureau P.O. Dessalegn Chanie, an Amhara opposition politician, said there had been signs in recent days that armed men from the Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups were preparing an attack, particularly in areas where there was little federal security presence. But funding gaps has forced @WFP to make difficult decisions about who receives food and who goes without. The national government should safeguard the rights of the indigenous and minority groups who are endangered by mob-minded community members desperate for revenge. . They have ritual specialists called gafea. In addition, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) - supported by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, which in the meantime had advanced far south from Eritrea - also fought for the area in the Ethiopian civil war in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he was sending more soldiers to secure Ethiopia's restive Benishangul-Gumuz area after armed gunmen killed more than 100 civilians. Attempts by the governments of Sudan and Ethiopia to increase control over the circulation of artisanal gold in their borderland regions have largely failed. Addis Ababa and Asmara both deny that Eritrean forces are involved in the conflict, contradicting witness reports from civilians, aid workers and some military and government officials in Tigray. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Those living near the Sudanese borderland converted to Islam and a few are Christians, but most Gumuz still maintain traditional religious practices. [14], Little is known about its history before the 19th century. [17], In the first quarter of the 19th century, Arab traders arrived from Sennar, which was occupied by Ottoman Egypt from 1821. UNHCR is working to install basic. Aaron Maasho, a spokesman for the government-funded Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, which reported the killings on Wednesday, urged Mr. Abiy to deploy extra security forces to keep the peace in the troubled region. UN food agency, FAO, UN children's agency, UNICEF, and WFP, warn that greater humanitarian assistance and livelihoods support is needed immediately to save lives and prevent the collapse of livelihoods in the worst-affected locations across South Sudan. Finally, Benishangul-Gumuz local government officials have owned up to orchestrating ethnic targeted killings in Metekkel as push back against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's new Prosperity Party,. Finds attributing them to the Berta date from the 17th to 20th centuries and are mainly located on mountains, hills and in rocky areas that are easy to defend. Selected aspects of Gumuz phonology. "Center -Periphery Relations in Ethiopian Empire: the Case of 1985. The choice may be clear : it may be a bitter pill to swallow: do we want to see one Ethiopia, living in a relative peace ,by changing some agreement on the dam or sticking to our current position and face the eternal infighting and the disintegration of the country? With mounting grievances against the regime, on 12 October 2020, the then chairman of the command post and deputy prime minister, Demeke Mekonnon, strangely and officially called people in Metekel to organize and arm themselves for defense. There was resettlement of highlanders to their area, particularly linked to the availability of land and water. Violence in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz region is separate from the deadly conflict in Ethiopias northern Tigray region, which has sent more than 61,000 Ethiopians into Sudans provinces of al-Qadarif and Kassala since fighting erupted in November. We are seeing the beginning of one more potentially big refugee crisis in the world, Haavisto said. This is because the Blue Nile, which originates from Ethiopia, supplies up to 80% of the Nile waters. He added, "Despite the plots and pressure, Ethiopia will fill the GERD reservoir on time. Hence, the regional and the federal government should collaboratively work to investigate the situation and bring the perpetrators to account. [14], Under the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam, who ruled Ethiopia from 1974, some 250,000 drought- and famine-stricken peasants from the highlandsmostly Amharas from Wollo provincewere relocated to Benishangul-Gumuz from 1979 and especially in the mid-1980s. Grottanelli, Vinigi, L. 1948. Slavery did not disappear in Ethiopia until the 1940s. Special Events - Intimate in-person events with business & political VIPs. World Report 2021: Ethiopia | Human Rights Watch At the same time as Ashadli Hassan, the regional president, and the command post were signing agreements with unnamed leaders of the Gumuz militia in Gilgel Beles and the administrative center of Metekel Zone, militia members were attacking the Almahal town in Guba Wereda. All the cooking and brewing is carried out in earthen pots, which are made by women. I think Marx has correctly identified the weakness of this article. What's causing the violence in western Ethiopia - The Conversation The area comprising Benishangul-Gumuz formally became part of Ethiopia under the terms of a Nile-focused 1902 treaty signed by Emperor Menelik II with Great Britain, which ruled Sudan. Please send an email to pro.support@al-monitor.com and we'll onboard your team. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.

Ruoey Lung F1001us, Jackson County Presiding Judge, Articles B