Dozens killed in 'gruesome' bus attack in western Ethiopia Thisis the first time, however, that an armed group takes full control of several cities in the region, in light of the security forces failure to counter it. All the cooking and brewing is carried out in earthen pots, which are made by women. This has received mixed reactions among residents and watchers of the region. Main languages are the Berta (25.15%), Amharic (22.46%), Gumuz (20.59%), Oromo (17.69%), Shinasha (4.58%) and Awngi (4.01%). Unseth, Peter. Getting people out of harms way and shielding them from serious protection risks also requires that their food needs are adequately addressed.. Besides the country is on the verge of being labeled as a pariah state, due to the conflict it has been ignited with western powers.It could be wise of the government, to step down from its rigid and jingoistic stance and try to accommodate to a certain degree, the interest of these three entities. It was previously known as Region 6. But hitherto the default position of both the Ethiopian state and opposition forces is violence. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}1046N 3532E / 10.767N 35.533E / 10.767; 35.533. Live Video Q&A - Hear from our top journalists and regional experts. The Gumuz have traditionally been grouped with other Nilotic peoples living along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border under the collective name Shanqella (Pankhurst 1977). Its not hard to see how the situation could spiral, now that a violent and chaotic organization has been officially empowered through a package of incentives.
"Center -Periphery Relations in Ethiopian Empire: the Case of In 2019, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his country should be ready for a war with Egypt over the dispute. I think Marx has correctly identified the weakness of this article. 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. Hence, the regional and the federal government should collaboratively work to investigate the situation and bring the perpetrators to account. The Amhara claim should be handled through constitutional means; not by force. 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. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
Klausberger, Friedrich. 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. This page was last edited on 12 March 2023, at 23:23. Analysts say the campaign in Tigray has hampered Mr. Abiys ability to stem clashes like the recent one in Benishangul-Gumuz, because it has forced him to divert soldiers from across Ethiopia to Tigray. Built on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region, just 30 km from the border with Sudan, the GERD is nearing completion, with the Ethiopian government announcing in March 2023 that 90 per cent of the dam was finalized. Often the Gumuz' lands were allocated to transnational or domestic investors.
Ethiopian army 'kills militants' behind village massacre - DW In, Wallmark, Peter. As "Shanquella", they are already mentioned by Scottish explorer James Bruce in his Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, published in 1790. Cite Ethiopia Insight and link to this page if republished. 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. With an estimated area of 49,289.46 square kilometers, this Region has an estimated density of 15.91 people per square kilometer. Even heavily guarded transport vehicles traveling to the GERD site, escorted by troops of armed personnel, are not safe from militia attacks. In the absence of justice, peace cannot prevail.
Dozens Die in Ethnic Massacre in Troubled Ethiopian Region The Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos invaded the area in 1617/18, and it fell to the Funj Sultanate in 1685. The Region hosts Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and has been the site of intense ethnic killings throughout the past year. 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. "There'll be an imbalance in terms of less water supply and inflated demand," said Mahmoud. Violence in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz region is separate from the deadly conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, which has sent more than 61,000 Ethiopians into Sudan's . [13] Besides slaves, gold was traditionally an important export of Benishangul. 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.
Bambasi - Wikipedia The Gumuz were hunted as slaves in the era of the emperors. UNHCR and partners have moved refugees from Sudan and South Sudan to safety in Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz region. The boundary was confirmed in 1902 by Ethiopia and Sudan. Muferiat Kemal, Ethiopias minister of peace, now says that the area has become a juncture for different interest groups.. [15] Archaeologists have found sites that they date to the end of the 1st millennium BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium AD and assign them to the forerunners of today's Komuz-speaking ethnic groups. Yet the Ethiopian side rejected them all, he added. [4] On 28 July 2009, the Regional Rural Roads Authority reported that over the previous year almost 600 of the 800 kilometers of local all-weather roads had been upgraded at a cost of 11.5 million birr, and an additional 447 kilometers of roads constructed. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [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. Full Release https://t.co/366QlfLowm@Refugees pic.twitter.com/3gdeWPfObw. This article attempts to investigate and analyze the relationship between Beni Shangul Gumuz and the central government in the period between 1898 and 1941 in the context of center-periphery theories. Rural population was 424,432, while the urban population was 36,027. Ethiopia started filling the dam, which is over 70% complete, in July 2020 and is getting ready for the second filling in July 2021. The massacre in Benishangul-Gumuz region, along the border with Sudan, is the latest challenge to the regime of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who came to power in 2018 promising to unite. As such, one could go so far as to argue that even bothering to conduct an election in Assosa while postponing elections in Metekel and Kamashi is effectively pointless. Benishangul-Gumuz is also home to the government's prestige $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
(Calverton: Macro International, 2008), http://catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/catalog/3583/download/50086, "Exhibiting Cultures of Contact: A Museum for Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia", "Ethiopia and the Mahdiyya You Call Me a Chicken? It was not until the mid-20th century that Berta also settled in the lowlands, as slave hunts and armed conflict had ended. In the end, the violence in western Ethiopia is a confluence of local, regional, national and, possibly, foreign interests. Thank you author and Ethiopia Insight.
The Indigenous World 2023: Ethiopia - Academia.edu The claim stems from the belief that Guba was gifted to Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia (1889-1913) by Khalifa Abdullahi, a Sudanese Mahdist leader, in 1897. Tsega Etefa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. 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. Ethiopians know that state institutions are weak and can easily imagine how the justice system in a place like Benishangul-Gumuz would be ill-equipped to investigate mass killings and bring perpetrators of atrocities to full account. Rising sea levels are prompting saltwater intrusions that are not only affecting water supply but also spoiling agricultural farmland, according to water management experts. Advertisement . Tigray has been the theatre of fighting since early November, when Prime Minister Abiy announced military operations against the regions ruling Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) party, accusing them of attacking federal army camps. 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. Originally, all Gumuz adorned their bodies with scarifications, but this custom is disappearing through government pressure and education. In a statement on 1 May, the government of Sudan claimed Benishangul-Gumuz as potentially its territorya provocation which the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly condemned. ", The following day, Ethiopias Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele referred to plots against his country, due to the GERD. 2023 Al-Monitor, LLC. The river provides nearly all Egyptians with drinking water. The dam's impact on the water supply depends on how fast it's filled, according to Elgendy. UNHCR and partners move refugees to safety in the Benishangul Gumuz region in Ethiopia. Over 100,000 people, mainly a large proportion of Amhara and Agaw people, have been displaced, the majority fleeing into Chagni, Ranch camp. Text Alerts - Be the first to get breaking news, exclusives, and PRO content. Despite this fact, the regional government immediately incorporated the strategy of civilian defense as part of conflict prevention and peace-building. 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. This figure does not include the uncounted and unreported displacement of Gumuz and Shinasha people that took place within Metekel Zone. People from neighboring weredas of Agalo Meti and Yaso, primarily those representing non-Gumuz ethnic groups, have left their villages in fear of a similar scenario. And as a result, the Nile delta becomes the second most susceptible place on earth to climate change impacts in terms of sea level rise," says Karim Elgendy, an associate fellow at the Chatham Institute think tank. [14][20], Resistance to the Mengistu regime here came mainly from the Berta. 505 from Sudan 1,054 from Somalia and 25,947 from South Sudan (NRC, 2014). As a result, the militias are strengthening their holdings and bargaining power.
03 Untangling Ethiopia and Sudan's shared cross-border issues Ahmad, Abdussamad H. 1999. In. Weekly A.I. Special Events - Intimate in-person events with business & political VIPs. Many Gumuz became sedentary while continuing their agricultural system. 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. 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. In 2019, the Metekel conflict began. Even small-scale farm holders used to produce surpluses each year. Twelve people were killed.
Ethiopia: Joint situation assessment mission to Benishangul-Gumuz But the region is also home to minority Amharas, Oromos, Tigrayans and Agaws a source of escalating tension. The question of Eritrean troops is extremely sensitive, so we dont get the clear answer about the whereabouts or magnitude of the Eritrean troops, he said. Memos - premium analytical writing: actionable insights on markets and geopolitics. Over 10,000 militia members were recruited and received government-sponsored military training in all weredas of the Metekel Zone.
World Report 2021: Ethiopia | Human Rights Watch 4 February 2022 Humanitarian Aid 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. Ethiopia Atlas of Key Demographic and Health Indicators, 2005." You have come to the situation which is militarily and human rights-wise, humanitarian-wise very out of control, Finlands Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told journalists in Brussels, a day after briefing the blocs ministers on the crisis.
Over 80 killed in attack in Ethiopian border region with Sudan - state The region's capital is Assosa. Still, the killings should have been condemned in the strongest terms possible, and the agreement should have included an attempt to do so. What is the impact of the expected great economic benefits of the GERD on peoples behavior now? Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Their claim to the entire Metekkel zone has fuelled Gumuz militia attacks on non-Gumuz residents. The number of refugees arriving per month has been steadily reducing and in May only 159 new arrivals were registered in Kassala and Geraref and another 162 new . 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. Photo: Benishangul Gumuz regional government Addis Abeba - The Benishangul Gumuz regional government said it has signed a peace agreement on 10 December with the armed group Benishangul People's Liberation Movement (BPLM) in Khartoum, Sudan. Climate change, population growth and a regional fight for water resources are all contributing to the risk of water imbalance, experts say. 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 . In December 2019, about 200 people were killed in the Metekel massacre. La Trib dei Gumus. Killings were committed by representatives of different ethnic groups, each seeking revenge for violence suffered. 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. 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. [13], According to Negasso Gidada, Oromo penetration into the region began in the mid-18th century. 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. But over the next two years, experts say Egyptians could approach a state of "absolute" water scarcity. Mr. Abiys decision to open up Ethiopian politics after he came to power in 2018, releasing political prisoners and allowing exiles to return, was widely acclaimed. [13] In the late 19th century, Ethiopia, under Menelik II, annexed the Sultanates of Beni Shangul and Gubba (Qubba in Arabic) at the behest of Abdallahi ibn Muhammad of Sudan who feared the British would occupy it. Selected aspects of Gumuz phonology. Our Vision is to see Healthy, Productive, and Prosperous Citizens of Ethiopia. In a statement on 1 May, the government of Sudan claimed Benishangul-Gumuz as potentially its territorya provocation which the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly condemned. " The Benishangul-Gumuz region borders Sudan and South Sudan. The Berta rebels instead allied with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which overthrew the Mengistu regime in 1991 with the coalition EPRDF. Slavery did not disappear in Ethiopia until the 1940s. 1975. Some of the reasons for the attacks include neighbouring Amhara states claim to ownership of the Metekkel zone. The officials believe that the Prosperity Party, to which they now belong, wants to eliminate the existing federal arrangement which guarantees self-rule to ethnic groups in the country. The committees head, Abdallah Hamo, said that the committees investigation found that Sudan and Egypt support violence in the region, and that the armed groups received training and illegal weapons at the border with Sudan. 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.
Benishangul - ethiodemographyandhealth.org Sudans recent claim to Metekkel and particularly to Guba district has shocked the region. Survivors and refugees of the Benishangul-Gumuz massacre walk through the displaced persons camp in the city of Chagni, Ethiopia, Dec. 31, 2020. They are looked down on and insulted as shankila. The region shares a border on the west with Sudan and is also the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The Gumuz speak the Gumuz language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family (Bender 1979). Violence by armed groups, and among ethnic-Gumuz, Agew, Amhara, and other communities in the Metekel zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz region, intensified in April, causing residents to flee..
Violence in Benishangul-Gumuz Endangers Ethiopia - Foreign Policy James, Wendy. Assosa Zone makes less than half of constituencies, which does not guarantee the establishment of a regional government. Previously one had to travel through Wollega and Gojjam in the neighboring regions of Oromia and Amhara, a distance of 1,250 kilometers, but it is now around 378 kilometers on the new road and bridge. . 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. Food insecurity is likely to rise by seven per cent across South Sudan in the coming months, compared to last year, according to a new UN report on food security, issued on Wednesday, leading humanitarians to renew their call for more humanitarian and livelihoods assistance to stave off looming hunger and enhance resilience. By the middle of the century, the wawi, the descendants of Arabs and Berta, had become the new ruling class. Studies in Gumuz: Sese phonology and TMA system. Communities have been torn apart. Meanwhile, the security response in Benishangul-Gumuz is not showing any capability of de-escalation. They have ritual specialists called gafea.
UNHCR, partners rush to aid thousands of refugees in Benishangul Gumuz The command post also tried to deter the militias by declaring that it would make door-to-door hunts and take all necessary measures to apprehend militia members. 12/24/2020. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. Benishangul-Gumuz Region is one of the peripheral regions of Ethiopia bordering the Sudan. Refugees and internally displaced people are at the centre of the food ration cuts, compounding a desperate situation for millions of people uprooted from their homes and often relying on aid to survive, said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UNHCRs Regional Bureau Director for the East, Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes.
Ethiopia: Whose Gamble Is Sudan Playing? - allAfrica.com Although the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) confirmed that elections in Kamashi and Metekel zone will be conducted on 6 September, it is not clear if that is possible in light of continuing security crisis, mounting fear escalation in neighboring zones, and several people displaced. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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. Lifelines: exchange marriage among the Gumuz. BDP also expressed frustration over the regional governments willingness to share power with militias while imprisoning and persecuting legally organized political parties in the region. "I believe there will come a point where some level of cooperation has to happen, because there is no other alternative," says Mahmoud. Fighting broke out on 18 January in the town of Tongo - reportedly between unidentified armed groups and federal forces - and the nearby camp . Gumuz who have had to flee their villages due to targeted violence from communities who cast blame en masse are not getting needed support. As it used to be among the Sudanese Uduk, marriage is through sister exchange. 21 Putting an immediate and lasting end to violence is the first step towards assessing and addressing the heavy impact of unconstrained fighting. Disarming the armed group could have been a better solution than arming the unarmed group which will likely fuel further conflict, putting the area into a vicious cycle of conflict. Many considered Demekes speech to be emotion-led and forwarded under the pressure of Amhara nationalists. Although Mr. Abiy declared victory in Tigray last month, United Nations officials say the fight continues. 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. Bambasi (also known as Abba Moti) is a town in western Ethiopia. In the absence of effective responses and with such a weak negotiation, popular trust in regional authorities, the command post, and government institutions has been diminished.