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. The Amhara state wants the right to administer Metekkel because it wants to control the zones mineral deposits and arable lands. Over 100,000 people, mainly a large proportion of Amhara and Agaw people, have been displaced, the majority fleeing into Chagni, Ranch camp. It is worrying indeed that the attention of national and international actors is turned almost exclusively to the war in Tigray. Zanni, Leone. The other communities are not well represented in the local leadership framework. But funding gaps has forced @WFP to make difficult decisions about who receives food and who goes without. But the region is also home to minority Amharas, Oromos, Tigrayans and Agaws a source of escalating tension. Guba is the closest district to Sudan. Sudans recent claim to Metekkel and particularly to Guba district has shocked the region. The cocktail of factors driving the worsening trend in food security for the whole of eastern Africa, will leave 7.74 million people (62.7 per cent of the population) across the country, facing IPC Phase 3 levels, or worse, of acute food insecurity during the lean season between April and July, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis. UNHCR and partners move refugees to safety in the Benishangul Gumuz region in Ethiopia. It is becoming unsafe to present identity cards that show the holders ethnicity, even at security checkpoints, as this may result in persecution. 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). 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. It is worrying indeed that the attention of national and international actors is turned almost exclusively to the war in Tigray. May 5, 2021 CAIRO Violence has been ongoing in Ethiopia's western region of Benishangul-Gumuz where the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is located, with Ethiopia announcing April 26 that more than 200 people were killed and thousands were displaced in the ongoing clashes between the government forces and armed groups. 1986. 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. Gumuz who have had to flee their villages due to targeted violence from communities who cast blame en masse are not getting needed support. Egypt has long been called the "gift of the Nile" as it has historically depended on the river for survival. Try it for free and cancel anytime. Benishangul-Gumuz (Amharic: , romanized:Benangul Gumuz) is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia bordering Sudan. 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. The dam is in Guba, one of the six districts in Metekkel. Benishangul-Gumuz ( Amharic: , romanized : Benangul Gumuz) is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia to the border of Sudan. The Amhara claim should be handled through constitutional means; not by force. Killings were committed by representatives of different ethnic groups, each seeking revenge for violence suffered. Since its establishment under the 1995 constitution, questions about who has rights in the region have been contested. Business and policy professionals use PRO to monitor the regional economy and improve their reports, memos and presentations. Within the federal political arrangement, the Gumuz and the Shinasha control the six districts in the local administration structure. La Trib dei Gumus. Sorghum is used for cooking porridge (nga) and brewing beer (kea). The diplomatic dispute with Sudan and Egypt should be solved through dialogue and the dam negotiations should proceed amicably. Anyone can read what you share. Major roads are still closed. 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. However, due to increased population which has led to the widespread destruction of the canopy, authorities announced a campaign on 8 June 2007 to plant 1.5 million seedlings over the next two months to replenish this resource. That is why we must all persevere and do our part., Ethiopias parliamentary committee tasked with appraising the dispute over the GERD officially accused Sudan and Egypt on March 5 of standing behind the violence in the Benishangul-Gumuz region.. Many of those who are still in the region are not getting humanitarian aid. Ethnic targeting means minorities are not able to move freely in the region, nor in neighboring towns in the Amhara region. [8] Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living for Benishangul-Gumuz as of 2005[update] include the following: 19.1% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 47.4% and for women 23.2%; and the regional infant mortality rate is 84 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is greater than the nationwide average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants first month of life. Still, the killings should have been condemned in the strongest terms possible, and the agreement should have included an attempt to do so. Eighteen years later, marginalisation, ethnic exclusion, poor governance and the absence of workable democratic mechanisms have significantly affected community relations. But attacks and tensions remain high. Alessandro Triulzi, "Trade, Islam, and the Mahdia in Northwestern Wallagg, Ethiopia". 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. [9], There are 2 refugee camps and 1 transit center, housing 36,440 refugees from Sudan and South Sudan, located in Benishangul-Gumuz region. These interest groups include actors from the neighbouring Amhara state who claim ownership of the Metekkel zone. Meanwhile, the security response in Benishangul-Gumuz is not showing any capability of de-escalation. Topographically, the . On April 19, Ahmed said that Ethiopia will fill the GERD reservoir in July and August, despite objections from the two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan. To do so, its necessary to assess the success and failure of the previous strategies attempted by the command post in an effort to end fighting. 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. Dessalegn, Beza. But hitherto the default position of both the Ethiopian state and opposition forces is violence. The command post set a deadline for the militias to lay down their arms and surrender on 8 December 2020. Some observers are now saying that the atrocities committed in Metekkel are reaching holocaust proportions. Billene Seyoum, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Abiy, did not respond to questions about the violence. 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. 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. 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. First, an area needs to be effectively controlled, ensuring the availability of appropriate levels of security, social services, and economic opportunities for returnees. We are seeing the beginning of one more potentially big refugee crisis in the world, Haavisto said. [17], In the first quarter of the 19th century, Arab traders arrived from Sennar, which was occupied by Ottoman Egypt from 1821. The situation [in Metekel] has rapidly escalated in the past three months, Babar Baloch, UNHCR spokesman, told reporters in Geneva. While the Blue Nile-Benishangul-Gumuz borderland is not free from conflict, it provides an example of . 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. Descendants of Gumuz people taken as slaves to the area just south of Welkite were found to still be speaking the language in 1984 (Unseth 1985). [1] Around 67,000 Gumuz also lived in Sudan. They speak the Gumuz language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family. The dam's impact on the water supply depends on how fast it's filled, according to Elgendy. Ethiopia started filling the dam, which is over 70% complete, in July 2020 and is getting ready for the second filling in July 2021. "There'll be an imbalance in terms of less water supply and inflated demand," said Mahmoud. 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. Join the Middle East's top business and policy professionals to access exclusive PRO insights today. Concise, actionable scenarios and predictions from top regional experts. Read more: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government has provided scant information on recent violence in Benishangul-Gumuz, particularly in Metekel zone, where Debate is located. As many social institutions and homes are destroyed, things like infrastructure building and support for reconstructing homes need to be considered. The unfolding conflict in different parts of the country and the withdrawal of popular political parties from the election has overshadowed the stalled national election. UNHCR is working to install basic. They said that many of the victims were ethnic Amharas and Agaws, who are a minority in that region. 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. The five largest ethnic groups in Benishangul-Gumuz were the Berta (27%), Gumuz (23%), Amhara (22%), Oromo (13%) and Shinasha (7%). Currently, the regional government has some control in towns where administrative offices are located, but not much beyond that. The Ethiopian Prime Minister called out his neighbors for fueling the recent round of violence in Ethiopia's western Benishangul-Gumuz region where the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is located. The hydro-electricity dam is now nearly complete and has begun filling to provide direly needed energy supply to Ethiopia. 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 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. Flag of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. [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. Awadi denied any Egyptian involvement in the recent violence in the Benishangul-Gumuz region. Comparative Komuz grammar. It was not until the mid-20th century that Berta also settled in the lowlands, as slave hunts and armed conflict had ended. "Folks have never actually went to war just because of water. There are also Sudanese and Egyptian interests to consider. Villages have been razed to the ground. This figure does not include the uncounted and unreported displacement of Gumuz and Shinasha people that took place within Metekel Zone. More than 70 percent of refugees in need, do not receive a full ration due to funding shortfalls. Even small-scale farm holders used to produce surpluses each year. It even considers that it is the only country entitled to the Nile waters, which Egypt totally rejects. Sister exchange marriage. This is an escalation of the border dispute between Sudan and. These traders married into the Berta upper class and thus gained political influence. This was followed by the killing of over 80 people in a place called Daleti in Metekel Zone. 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. There was resettlement of highlanders to their area, particularly linked to the availability of land and water. 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 . But a day later, armed men attacked a village, leaving at least 100 people dead, according to human rights groups. 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. For the entire region 174,445 households were counted, which results in an average for the Region of 4.5 persons to a household, with urban households having on average 3.6 and rural households 4.7 people. The Blue Nile region is situated in the south-eastern part of Sudan, bordering Ethiopia and South Sudan. On the other hand, Egypt considers the dam a major threat to its food security. Ethiopia Atlas of Key Demographic and Health Indicators, 2005." 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. Dozens Die in Ethnic Massacre in Troubled Ethiopian Region, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/world/africa/ethiopia-ethnic-killings.html. It seems a terrible idea. 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. 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. Ahmad, Abdussamad H. 1999. An example is that settlers were attracted to a large irrigation project along the Kusa. It is the administrative center of Bambasi woreda . January 6, 2021, 4:10 AM On Dec. 22, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the vast lowland territory of Metekel in Ethiopia's far western region of Benishangul-Gumuz, the so-called. UNHCR says most of the asylum seekers who fled ethnic violence in Benishangul-Gumuz region have been living among Sudanese host communities. 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.. In several parts of the Gumuz area, the settlers' economy dominated by 2018. 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 . If you dont influence it now then the circumstances will build so that there are more and more refugees coming.. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Blood was flooding from his neck, he said. 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. Cite Ethiopia Insight and link to this page if republished. Its main inhabitants are the Gumuz, Oromo, Awi, Amhara, and Shinasha communities. Ethiopia's new party is welcome news, but faces big hurdles. 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. 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. The Gumuz speak the Gumuz language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family (Bender 1979). As it used to be among the Sudanese Uduk, marriage is through sister exchange. Although Mr. Abiy declared victory in Tigray last month, United Nations officials say the fight continues. Benshangul-Gumuz Regional Health Bureau P.O. Muferiat Kemal, Ethiopias minister of peace, now says that the area has become a juncture for different interest groups.. Even heavily guarded transport vehicles traveling to the GERD site, escorted by troops of armed personnel, are not safe from militia attacks. In a Twitter thread, he said, It is clear that there is a plot designed to thwart our efforts and undermine our very existence. 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. James, Wendy. Simmoons, Frederick. However, Ethiopia Insight will correct clear factual errors. Lifelines: exchange marriage among the Gumuz. Fighters from Amhara, however, have been accused by witnesses of carrying out atrocities along with Ethiopian and Eritrean forces in the Tigray conflict. Ahmed said that these parties seek to plunge the country into chaos. 1975. Already, reports indicate the presence of training operations for militias in the Ethiopia-Sudan border. The incumbent parliament has 99 seats. Associate Professor of History, Colgate University. Negotiations over an agreement between the three nations over the filling of the dam have stalled recently. But it has lots of control over its internal problems through understanding and negotiations. This claim gained momentum after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed power in April 2018. [10], Religion in Benishangul-Gumuz Region (2007)[11]. Haavisto, who met Abiy during his visit to Addis Ababa this month as part of a fact-finding mission, said Ethiopias leadership had failed to provide a clear picture of the situation in Tigray including the widely documented involvement of forces from neighbouring Eritrea. 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. 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. With an estimated area of 49,289.46 square kilometers, this Region has an estimated density of 15.91 people per square kilometer. Bambasi (also known as Abba Moti) is a town in western Ethiopia. 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. Millions of displaced families across eastern Africa will fall deeper into hunger as food rations dwindle due to humanitarian resources being stretched to the limit as the world grapples with a toxic cocktail of conflict, climate shocks, and COVID-19, UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday. 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. 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. In. As a result, the militias are strengthening their holdings and bargaining power. [15][14], Later in the 19th century, Benishangul was affected by the Mahdi uprising. Those living near the Sudanese borderland converted to Islam and a few are Christians, but most Gumuz still maintain traditional religious practices. 1234 Sudan Streat Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As of 2007, there were around 159,418 Gumuz in Ethiopia. Originally, all Gumuz adorned their bodies with scarifications, but this custom is disappearing through government pressure and education. 1985. 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. The region shares a border on the west with Sudan and is also the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). [citation needed] The Gumuz number around 200,000 individuals. Both countries are opposed to the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam without negotiation. Alessandro Triulzi: "Beni angul" in: Siegbert Uhlig (Hrsg.). Many Gumuz people have been displaced and they are not happy that the investors are hiring non-Gumuz workers to aid in their occupation of an area that is rich in resources like gold, marble and fertile agricultural land. driven curation of top business stories accross 12 industries in the region. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. 1958. The new influx of refugees into Sudan comes amid tensions between Addis Ababa and Khartoum over a border dispute and the deadlocked talks over a massive dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River. The OLF tried to incorporate the local population as "black Oromo", but met with little support. 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. 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. In the end, the violence in western Ethiopia is a confluence of local, regional, national and, possibly, foreign interests. 21 The boundary was confirmed in 1902 by Ethiopia and Sudan. The Abay River (Blue Nile) divides Benishangul-Gumuz, and there was no bridge crossing it until 2012. 1939-40. . 2023 Al-Monitor, LLC. In the latest episode, witnesses said that men of the Gumuz ethnic group, armed with rifles and swords, stormed into Daletti village early Tuesday. #NEWS ALERT The number of #refugees in eastern Africa has tripled in the last decade to almost 5 million. 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. 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. Severe climate shocks Globally, floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and intense, severely. People are not receiving the humanitarian support they need and the attention they deserve. Finally, the regional government felt obliged to engage in a dialogue and negotiation with the Gumuz militia. But it also unleashed simmering ethnic tensions. 28 Apr 2023 16:34:36 The government and its intelligence sector should reassess the routes and ways through which the militias are getting logistical support. This is a good article. The militias want to protect the Gumuzs 30-year rule of the region. It criticised Sudan's 1 May claim of sovereignty over Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region, where the dam is being constructed. This is because the Blue Nile, which originates from Ethiopia, supplies up to 80% of the Nile waters. "I believe there will come a point where some level of cooperation has to happen, because there is no other alternative," says Mahmoud. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The attacks have been aggravated by recent land grabs by Amhara and other non-indigenous investors who want to control the zones agricultural and mining sectors. The Gumuz have traditionally been grouped with other Nilotic peoples living along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border under the collective name Shanqella (Pankhurst 1977). Note Etnografiche. Why Ethiopia's new leader could be a game changer. [13], According to Negasso Gidada, Oromo penetration into the region began in the mid-18th century. ", Ethiopia: Tackling environmental challenges with trees, "Benishangul Gumuz State Council appoints Ahmed Nasir as chief of state", Map of Benishangul-Gumuz Region at UN-OCHA, Map of Benishangul-Gumuz Region at DPPA of Ethiopia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benishangul-Gumuz_Region&oldid=1151047051, This page was last edited on 21 April 2023, at 15:41. At the epicenter of these complex crossroads is Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State: site of the dam, bordering with Sudan, and cloaked in chaos that will prevent many of its constituents from participating in the upcoming national election. Metekkel zone is one of three zones in the Benishangul-Gumuz state. I Preniloti: unarcaica provincia culturale in Africa. Bambasi has a longitude and latitude of 945N 3444E with an elevation of 1668 meters above sea level. 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.
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