Material support, which has thus far been in short supply, should be accompanied by psychosocial support. There are several people, including children, who have lost their whole family due to the conflict. Alessandro Triulzi, "Asosa", in: Siegbert Uhlig (Hrsg.). All premium Industry Newsletters - Monitor the Middle East's most important industries. It is subdivided in several dialects (Ahland 2004, Unseth 1985). [13], According to Negasso Gidada, Oromo penetration into the region began in the mid-18th century. The UN says that areas where 80 percent of the regions population live remain cut off from assistance. In the end, the violence in western Ethiopia is a confluence of local, regional, national and, possibly, foreign interests. UNHCR and partners have moved refugees from Sudan and South Sudan to safety in Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz region. Dozens Die in Ethnic Massacre in Troubled Ethiopian Region, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/world/africa/ethiopia-ethnic-killings.html. The OLF tried to incorporate the local population as "black Oromo", but met with little support. The EU has joined the United States in demanding Eritrean troops withdraw. [4] Background [ edit] Ethnic tensions [ edit] It was not until the mid-20th century that Berta also settled in the lowlands, as slave hunts and armed conflict had ended. But the region is also home to minority Amharas, Oromos, Tigrayans and Agaws a source of escalating tension. By drawing a bad lesson, other groups may also end up emulating similar measures. Benishangul -Gumuz. According to the regions constitution, the Benishangul-Gumuz State Council should have less than 100 seats. On Dec. 22, Mr. Abiy took time out from the campaign in Tigray to visit Benishangul-Gumuz and calm tensions in the area. . Since then, death from violence been rampant in the whole region. "It will determine the impact of this disruption and the reduction to the volumes of water that goes to Egypt," he said. As President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier, all options are open in preserving Egypt's right to the Nile waters, and the waters of the Nile River are ared line for the Egyptians., Sisi had warned April 7, No one can take a single drop of water from Egypt [and] all options are open., On March 30, Sisi said during a press conference, We are not threatening anyone, but no one can take a drop of water from Egypt [or] the region would witness a state of instability that no one can imagine., Awadi said, Ethiopia insists on the second filling of the GERD reservoir even before a binding legal agreement with Egypt and Sudan is reached. Even heavily guarded transport vehicles traveling to the GERD site, escorted by troops of armed personnel, are not safe from militia attacks. As a result, the militias are strengthening their holdings and bargaining power. In 2021, Egypt and Sudan held joint military exercises to showcase security ties between the two countries in response to the ongoing conflict, the Associated Press reported. The Berta, Gumuz and Shinasha tend to have more in common with the people of neighbouring Sudan than with other Ethiopian peoples, while the Amhara and Tigrayans, who are known as Habesha (or "highlanders") are recent arrivals, who began to settle in the region during the Derg era. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Severe climate shocks Globally, floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and intense, severely. This is a good article. Under Ethiopia's 1995 federal constitution, the region is autonomous and administered by locals, which was not the case under the Derg military regime or . Ethiopias former ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front. Memos - premium analytical writing: actionable insights on markets and geopolitics. " The Benishangul-Gumuz region borders Sudan and South Sudan. High-ranking officials including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the area and discussed with representatives of the people in December 2020. I suspect justice means something different to the rebel group than to this author and government. Metekel Zone, located in Benishangul Gumuz Region of Ethiopia, is home to many ethnic groups, such as the Gumuz, the Amharas and the Shinashas. Ahmad, Abdussamad H. 1999. However, all these measures were followed by an elevated conflict which resulted in dreadful consequences where civilians were brutally killed based on their skin color, their homes and farms were destroyed by fire. On 2 April, unnamed Gumuz militias claimed control of the administrative center of Sedal Wereda in Kamashi, very close to the construction site of the GERD. It was the latest of several bloody outbursts over the past year in the western region of Benishangul-Gumuz, along the border with Sudan, where ethnic tensions are running high. Photo: Benishangul Gumuz communication bureau Addis Abeba - A peace and development conference between senior officials of Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz region and Sudan's Blue Nile state has started today in Ad-Damazin city, the capital city of Sudan's Blue Nile state. Metekkel residents, including the majority Gumuz community, are opposed to Amhara occupation. The area has been under the stewardship of the command post since September 2020. The unfortunate reality is that eastern Africa is confronted with a year of unprecedented humanitarian needs, driven by severe climate shocks, ongoing conflict and instability, and surging food and fuel prices, said Michael Dunford, WFPs Regional Director for Eastern Africa. More than 80 civilians were killed in an attack on Tuesday in the Benishangul-Gumuz region on Ethiopia's border with Sudan, the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Wednesday. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are rushing life-saving aid to more than 20,000 refugees after they fled clashes in Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz region, bordering Sudan and South Sudan. 12/24/2020. But if the ethnic federal framework is altered by the Prosperity Party, that would affect the interests of the majority Gumuz community profoundly. Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesmanMansour Bouladresponded to the Ethiopian accusations on March 5, saying in apress statement, Sudan has no intention to invest in violence in its relations with other countries.. Zanni, Leone. The access situation in Benishangul-Gumuz and parts of western Oromia has evolved since OCHA's map from late January - some improvements but still large areas "hard-to-reach" due to the security situation & related restrictions. [18] In 1898, Asosa became the political and economic capital. #NEWS ALERT The number of #refugees in eastern Africa has tripled in the last decade to almost 5 million. info@moh.gov.et. Ahmad, Abdussamad H. 1995. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said more than 180 people were killed in separate massacres in Metekel in December and January. At least 80 people were killed on Tuesday when unidentified gunmen stormed through a village in western Ethiopia in the latest of a series of ethnically driven massacres in the area, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and witnesses said on Wednesday. By foregoing action to investigate crimes and ensure accountability, the signed agreement has also neglected the issue of justicea foundation of sustainable peace. When commissioned, it will be the biggest hydroelectric power plant in Africa - but again it has delivered few of the promised jobs and benefits to locals. The most obscure of Ethiopia's regions, practically never visited by tourists, is Benishangul-Gumuz, which runs for about 2,000km along the Sudanese border to the east of Amhara, but is on average no more than 200km. The sun rises behind the skyline of Egypt's capital Cairo and its Nile river island of Manial, Nov. 3, 2022. Advertisement . If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. This is because the Blue Nile, which originates from Ethiopia, supplies up to 80% of the Nile waters. [5], Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), the Benishangul-Gumuz Region has a total population of 784,345, consisting of 398,655 men and 385,690 women; urban inhabitants number 105,926 or 13.51% of the population. The most affected states are Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile, Lakes, Eastern Equatoria (Kapoeta East) and Warrap - more than 80 per cent of those food insecure. Time is not on Ethiopias side;it is on the side of Egypt and Sudan.I suspect that they may have hands in almost all conflict areas in the country. Cereal crops are kept in granaries decorated with clay lumps imitating female breasts. "Experimenting with Non-Territorial Autonomy: Indigenous Councils in Ethiopia". According to their traditions, in earlier times they inhabited the western parts of the province of Gojjam, but were progressively banished to the inhospitable area of the Blue Nile and its tributaries by their more powerful Afroasiatic-speaking neighbors, the Amhara and Agaw, who also enslaved them (Wolde-Selassie Abbute 2004). An aerial view of the Nile is seen during World Water Day in Cairo, March 22, 2023. Yet the Ethiopian side rejected them all, he added. Benshangul-Gumuz Regional Health Bureau P.O. driven curation of top business stories accross 12 industries in the region. Putting an immediate and lasting end to violence is the first step towards assessing and addressing the heavy impact of unconstrained fighting. The national government should safeguard the rights of the indigenous and minority groups who are endangered by mob-minded community members desperate for revenge. Similarly, Ethiopian asylum seekers have been crossing from the Benishangul-Gumuz region into Sudan's Blue Nile State. Following the adoption of the 1995 constitution, the region was created from the westernmost portion of the Gojjam province (the part north of the Abay River), and the northwestern portion of the Welega Province (the part south of the Abay). The Gumuz practice shifting cultivation and their staple food is sorghum (Wallmark 1981). There are a few questions that I wish the author addressed. Since 2019, a cross-border collaboration programme has been implementing activities aimed to develop and enhance income-generating opportunities in the border area of Benishangul-Gumuz Region (Ethiopia) and Blue Nile State (Sudan), as a means of strengthening the population's resilience to instability and displacement and to improve overall living conditions. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Control of the area must be regained. Separately, a European Union envoy warned the crisis in Tigray appears out of control, after visiting Ethiopia on behalf of the bloc. But over the next two years, experts say Egyptians could approach a state of "absolute" water scarcity. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. [12], Like the Gambela Region, Benishangul-Gumuz is historically closely linked to neighbouring areas of Sudan, and to a lesser extent to the Ethiopian Highlands. Clashes had occasionally erupted in the past in the region that is home to various ethnic groups, including Gumuz, Agaws and Shinasas and the Amhara. Though a transit road has been built and commercial farms established in the lower basin the Gumuz people were seen in 2018 as politically "peripheral" in regard to the Ethiopian highlands that hold the power in the country. [14], Little is known about its history before the 19th century. Despite some progress, the humanitarian response remains drastically inadequate compared to the sheer magnitude of needs across the region, the UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA) said in a report on Saturday. As "Shanquella", they are already mentioned by Scottish explorer James Bruce in his Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, published in 1790. Ethiopian officials have insisted that the dam will not impede on both Sudan and Egypt's water supply. Like other regions in Ethiopia, Benishangul-Gumuz is subdivided into administrative zones. Survivors of a massacre in December in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia. The hydro-electricity dam is now nearly complete and has begun filling to provide direly needed energy supply to Ethiopia. The Amhara regional state and Amhara activists say that Metekkel was forcibly included under the Benishangul-Gumuz regional state after the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front took power in 1991. For many, the agreement is an indication that positive gains can come from unsanctioned violence and may tempt others to achieve their wants through violence. In 2019, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his country should be ready for a war with Egypt over the dispute. The major road that connects the Metekel Zone and the Assosa Zone was built by the China Construction Company in 2012. Various trade routes met in Benishangul, and local gold and Ethiopian amole (salt bars) were exchanged for slaves, cattle, horses, iron, civet, musk, coffee, ivory and honey (which also came from the Oromo areas of Sibu and Leeqaa). The completion of a mega-dam on the river poses another significant threat to the water supply in the region, critics of the project say. The name of the region comes from two peoples Berta (also called Benishangul) and Gumuz. The region has 20 weredas and two Special Weredas making three Zones of the region. Berta is spoken in the Sherkole woreda, Gumuz is spoken along the western boundary of Guba and Dangur woredas and in the Sirba Abbay woreda, and the Shinasha are a displaced people of Kaffa scattered across Welega and Gojjam. On 21 May, the National Election Board of Ethiopia confirmed that the election, which will take place on 21 June, will not take place in both Metekel and Kamashi zones, indicating that registration of voters did not occur due to security reasons. A group of Gumuz men came to our village chanting leave our land, said Sebsibie Ibrahim, 36, a shop owner in Metekel district, speaking by phone. Many of those who are still in the region are not getting humanitarian aid. 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. Awadi noted that the Ethiopian society is disintegrated, as sporadic demonstrations occasionally erupt in the country, due to the prime ministers policies of marginalization and persecution of several social groups.
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