We are seeing the beginning of one more potentially big refugee crisis in the world, Haavisto said. 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. Despite efforts to make resources stretch through prioritisation schemes, the agencies are having to prioritize food assistance for the most vulnerable families,they saidin a press release, while the sheer number of refugees in need of support has grown, along with the gap between resourcing and needs. [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. 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. More than 70 percent of refugees in need, do not receive a full ration due to funding shortfalls. These attacks were premeditated and highly prepared, he said. There are a few questions that I wish the author addressed. 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. Dessalegn, Beza. . Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Ati said in a statement April 18 that Cairo submitted15 different proposals for the filling and operation of the GERD over the past years, so as to meet the Ethiopian demands without causing any damage to Egypt and Sudan. But funding gaps has forced @WFP to make difficult decisions about who receives food and who goes without. In the absence of justice, peace cannot prevail. There are also Sudanese and Egyptian interests to consider. Most Gumuz members live in a bush-savanna lowland environment. 1994. I have no confidence in the proposed solution. 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. Even heavily guarded transport vehicles traveling to the GERD site, escorted by troops of armed personnel, are not safe from militia attacks. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a massive hydropower plant on the River Nile that neighbors Sudan and Egypt, as the dam started to produce electricity, Feb. 19, 2022, in Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia. There are also competing interests from actors in Sudan and Egypt who are opposed to the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in Metekkel, and local elements who are unhappy with the formation of Ethiopias new ruling Prosperity Party. The Gumuz see minorities as settlers, the rights group said. With national and international attention being pulled in many directionsmost notably towards war in Tigraythe problems of Benishangul-Gumuz are being eclipsed. Rocket fire from Gaza after Palestinian hunger striker dies, At 75, Israeli society faces sharpening divisions, 75 years after the Nakba, Palestinians still long for return, Former Sudan advisor to US government Cameron Hudson says US sanctions on Sudan's rival generals could have averted conflict. 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. In. But it has lots of control over its internal problems through understanding and negotiations. 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. Al-Monitor.com is a trusted and award-winning independent source of Middle East news and analysis, founded in 2012. What is the rationale behind having an ethnic identity card? 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. They encouraged attacks on non-Gumuz inhabitants who they felt would gain the upper hand in the administration of the Metekkel zone if the current federal arrangement were to be altered. People are not receiving the humanitarian support they need and the attention they deserve. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? 1234 Sudan Streat Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He added, "Despite the plots and pressure, Ethiopia will fill the GERD reservoir on time. Published under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. 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. In December 2019, about 200 people were killed in the Metekel massacre. 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 . 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.. Benishangul-Gumuz Regional state, Western Ethiopia Research Article Volume 25 Issue 5 - September 2020 . UNHCR, COR and partners are also responding to their needs. "There'll be an imbalance in terms of less water supply and inflated demand," said Mahmoud. 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. Insecurity has prevented people from accessing their land for next years farming. [citation needed]. 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. It was previously known as Region 6. 1981. In, James, Wendy. It is worrying indeed that the attention of national and international actors is turned almost exclusively to the war in Tigray. More and more children below the age of five years are experiencinghigh levels of stunting and wasting, as they lack the nutrients to grow and develop., Families do not know where their next meal will come from and are taking on huge debt, selling off what they can, or sending their children to work, added the Regional Director. Abiy, the winner of the Nobel 2019 Peace Prize, declared victory after federal forces entered the regional capital of Mekelle in late November, though the TPLF pledged to fight on and clashes have persisted in the region, hampering efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance. In 2019, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his country should be ready for a war with Egypt over the dispute. By foregoing action to investigate crimes and ensure accountability, the signed agreement has also neglected the issue of justicea foundation of sustainable peace. Meanwhile, the security response in Benishangul-Gumuz is not showing any capability of de-escalation. The attacks by armed militia, mainly from the Gumuz people against the Oromo, Amhara, Shinasha, and Awi residents of Metekkel, escalated in September 2020 and continued into March of 2021. John Young, "Along Ethiopia's Western Frontier: Gambella and Benishangul in Transition". Full Release https://t.co/366QlfLowm@Refugees pic.twitter.com/3gdeWPfObw. The proposition of arming civilians to curb the violence divided opinions. The stories the refugees are bringing they are fleeing attacks from their opponents, Baloch said. As time passes, the Gumuz militias are strengthening their holdings and capacity, expanding and imposing their presence into Kamashi and Assosa zones. The name of the region comes from two peoples Berta (also called Benishangul) and Gumuz. [6] It had a projected population of 1,127,001 in 2018.[2]. According to the regions constitution, the Benishangul-Gumuz State Council should have less than 100 seats. The parliamentary defense committee affirms the Egyptians right to resort to all means so as to preserve their rights, and that all options are available in countering the Ethiopian intransigence.. 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. This is an escalation of the border dispute between Sudan and. 1986. 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 . It has been over six months since more than 207 people were massacred in a single day on 24 December 2020 in Bakuji, a small kebele in Bullen Wereda. 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. This figure does not include the uncounted and unreported displacement of Gumuz and Shinasha people that took place within Metekel Zone. Although Mr. Abiy declared victory in Tigray last month, United Nations officials say the fight continues. Unless the government and concerned parties give their attention to Benishangul-Gumuz, the country and the Horn of Africa as a whole is likely to soon feel the awful effects of an out-of-control conflict. It is subdivided in several dialects (Ahland 2004, Unseth 1985). Ethiopia is now at a crossroads. Lifelines: exchange marriage among the Gumuz. The Gumuz also hunt wild animals, such as duikers and warthogs, and gather honey, wild fruits, roots and seeds. In 2019, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his country should be ready for a war with Egypt over the dispute. Read more: 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. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said more than 180 people were killed in separate massacres in Metekel in December and January. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. In the absence of any official Egyptian comment on the developments in Benishangul-Gumuz and the Ethiopian accusations, Egyptian media outlets lashed out at Addis Ababa and backed the rebellion in the region. Main photo: PM Abiy Ahmed and Benishangul Gumuz regions president Ashadli Hassan at a public conference in Benishangul on peace and security situation in Metekel; 22 December 2020; Office of the Prime Minister. The road has a 365-meter bridge that crosses the Abay. Join the Middle East's most notable experts for premium memos, trend reports, live video Q&A, and intimate in-person events, each detailing exclusive insights on business and geopolitical trends shaping the region. Ethiopia Atlas of Key Demographic and Health Indicators, 2005." The five largest ethnic groups in Benishangul-Gumuz were the Berta (27%), Gumuz (23%), Amhara (22%), Oromo (13%) and Shinasha (7%). Major roads are still closed. But a day later, armed men attacked a village, leaving at least 100 people dead, according to human rights groups. Getting people out of harms way and shielding them from serious protection risks also requires that their food needs are adequately addressed.. Weekly A.I. The regional government announced the signing of an agreement with the militia group on 18 May in Gilgel Beles town. Data-driven analysis of latest market trends. The region has faced major challenges to economic development, due to lack of transportation and communications infrastructure. On Wednesday, Ethiopia said its military had killed three senior members of Tigrays former ruling party, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, including Seyoum Mesfin, a former foreign minister of Ethiopia. [4][5][6], Many changes occurred for the Gumuz people from the 1980s through to the 2010s. As "Shanquella", they are already mentioned by Scottish explorer James Bruce in his Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, published in 1790. Thousands have been killed and buried in mass graves, forced out of their homes, and properties looted and set ablaze. 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. The UN says that areas where 80 percent of the regions population live remain cut off from assistance. Rural population was 424,432, while the urban population was 36,027. Nilotic ethnic group in Ethiopia and Sudan, https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1275-84, "12 killed in latest attack in western Ethiopia", "Benishangul: At least 60 civilians mostly women, children killed", "More than 100 killed in latest ethnic massacre in Ethiopia", Field recordings from 1980 of traditional music, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gumuz_people&oldid=1144297259, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2008, "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0.
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