organization:ethiopian government

After the scramble
▻https://africasacountry.com/2019/06/after-the-scramble

In August of 2018, the Ethiopian government “requested” Britain’s National Army Museum to return two locks

Power shift creates new tensions and Tigrayan fears in Ethiopia.

Disagreements over land and resources between the 80 different ethnic groups in Ethiopia have often led to violence and mass displacement, but a fast and unprecedented shift of power led by reformist Prime Minister #Abiy_Ahmed is causing new strains, experts say.

“Ethnic tensions are the biggest problem for Ethiopia right now,” Tewodrose Tirfe, chair of the Amhara Association of America, a US-based advocacy group that played a significant role in lobbying the US government to censor the former regime. “You’ve got millions of people displaced – it’s a humanitarian crisis, and it could get out of control.”

During the first half of 2018, Ethiopia’s rate of 1.4 million new internally displaced people exceeded Syria’s. By the end of last year, the IDP population had mushroomed to nearly 2.4 million.

Tigrayans comprise just six percent of Ethiopia’s population of 100 million people but are perceived as a powerful minority because of their ethnic affinity with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The TPLF wielded almost unlimited power for more than two decades until reforms within the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front last year.

Since coming to power in April 2018, Prime Minister Abiy – from the Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia’s largest – has brought major changes to the politics of the country, including an unprecedented redistribution of power within the EPRDF and away from the TPLF.
The politics of ethnic tensions

Despite the conflicting interests and disagreements between ethnic groups, the Ethiopian government has managed to keep the peace on a national scale. But that juggling act has shown signs of strain in recent years.

►https://www.irinnews.org/analysis/2019/02/14/Ethiopia-ethnic-displacement-power-shift-raises-tensions
#Ethiopie #terres #tensions #conflit #violence #IDPs #déplacés_internes #migrations #minorités

In 2017, an escalation in ethnic clashes in the Oromia and the Somali regions led to a spike in IDPs. This continued into 2018, when clashes between the Oromo and Gedeo ethnic groups displaced approximately 970,000 people in the West Guji and Gedeo zones of neighbouring Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region.

“The pace and scale of the change happening in Ethiopia is quite unbelievable,” said Ahmed Soliman, a research fellow with the Africa Programme at the London-based think tank Chatham House.

“The impact of inter-communal tensions and ethnic violence presents a serious challenge for the new leadership – in Tigray and elsewhere. Abiy’s aggressive reform agenda has won praise, but shaking up Ethiopia’s government risks exacerbating several long-simmering ethnic rivalries.”

Although clashes are sometimes fuelled by other disagreements, such as land or resources, people affected often claim that politicians across the spectrum use ethnic tensions as a means of divide and rule, or to consolidate their position as a perceived bulwark against further trouble.

“Sadly [around Ethiopia] ethnic bias and violence is affecting many people at the local level,” said a foreign humanitarian worker with an international organisation helping Ethiopian IDPs, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue. This includes fuelling the displacement crisis and worsening the humanitarian situation.

“The main humanitarian concern is that new displacements are occurring by the day, that due to the wide geographic scope, coordination and response in all locations is practically impossible,” the aid worker said.

“I would like to see more transparency as to what actions the government is taking to hold regional and zonal governments responsible for addressing conflict, for supporting reconciliation, and supporting humanitarian response.”
Tigray fears

Although Tigrayans constitute a relatively small part of overall IDP numbers so far, some Tigrayans fear the power shift in Addis Ababa away from the TPLF leaves them more vulnerable and exposed.

Already simmering anti-Tigrayan sentiments have led to violence, people told IRIN, from barricading roads and forcibly stopping traffic to looting and attacks on Tigrayan homes and businesses in the Amhara and Oromia regions.

In the Tigray region’s capital of Mekelle, more than 750 kilometers north of the political changes taking place in Addis Ababa, many Tigrayans feel increasingly isolated from fellow Ethiopians.

“The rest of the country hates us,” Weyanay Gebremedhn, 25, told IRIN. Despite the reforms, Tigrayans say what hasn’t changed is the narrative that they are responsible by association for the ills of the TPLF.

Although he now struggles to find work, 35-year-old Huey Berhe, who does mostly odd jobs to pay the bills, said he felt safer living among his own community in Mekelle.

Huey said he had been a student at Jimma University in western Ethiopia, until growing ethnic tensions sparked fights on campus and led to Tigrayans being targeted. “I left my studies at Jimma after the trouble there,” he said. “It was bad – it’s not something I like to discuss.”
‘A better evil’

“There is a lot of [lies] and propaganda, and the TPLF has been made the scapegoat for all vice,” said Gebre Weleslase, a Tigrayan law professor at Mekelle University. He criticised Abiy for not condemning ethnic attacks, which he said had contributed to tens of thousands of Tigrayans leaving Amhara for Tigray in recent years.

But Amhara Association of America’s Tewodrose said the feeling of “hate” that Ethiopians have toward the TPLF “doesn’t extend to Tigrayans”.

“There is resentment toward them when other Ethiopians hear of rallies in Tigray supporting the TPLF, because that seems like they aren’t supporting reform efforts,” he said. “But that doesn’t lead to them being targeted, otherwise there would have been more displacements.”

Tigrayans, however, aren’t as reassured. Despite the vast majority enduring years of poverty and struggle under the TPLF, which should give them as many reasons as most Ethiopians to feel betrayed, even those Tigrayans who dislike the TPLF now say that turning to its patronage may be their only means of seeking protection.

“The TPLF political machinery extended everywhere in the country – into the judiciary, the universities… it became like something out of George Orwell’s ‘1984’,” Huey said. “But the fact is now the TPLF may represent a better evil as we are being made to feel so unsafe – they seem our only ally as we are threatened by the rest of the country.”

Others note that Abiy has a delicate balance to strike, especially for the sake of Tigrayans.

“The prime minister needs to be careful not to allow his targeting of anti-reform elements within the TPLF, to become an attack on the people of Tigray,” said Soliman.

“The region has a history of resolute peoples and will have to be included with all other regions, in order for Abiy to accomplish his goals of reconciliation, socio-political integration and regional development, as well as long-term peace with Eritrea.”

Although the government has a big role to play, some Ethiopians told IRIN it is essential for the general population to also face up to the inherent prejudices and problems that lie at the core of their society.

“It’s about the people being willing and taking individual responsibility – the government can’t do everything,” Weyanay said. “People need to read more and challenge their assumptions and get new perspectives.”

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#Tigréans

Development Gone Wrong | The Oakland Institute
▻https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/blog/development-gone-wrong

“I am not afraid of being arrested. I am afraid of being tortured.” These words from Pastor Omot Agwa, an Anuak land rights defender, are a poignant reminder of “development” gone wrong in Ethiopia.
Image of a tractor.

The agricultural sector, seen as the driver for development by the Ethiopian government, has been used to lure foreign investments for agribusiness ventures—large industrial plantations as those set up by Saudi Star and Karuturi in Gambella, Ethiopia. The local indigenous communities bear the cost.

#éthiopie #plantation #droit_humain #répression #agroindustrie

Ethiopia Devaluates Currency by 15%
▻http://www.ena.gov.et/en/index.php/economy/item/3817-ethiopia-devaluates-currency-by-15

Ethiopia has devaluated its exchange rate of Birr by 15 percent against international currencies, the National Bank of Ethiopia announced.

Deputy CEO of NBE Yohannes Ayalew said the devaluation is important in enhancing performance of the country’s export sector.

The move is said to promote the country’s export sector that has been performing low over the past years.

For the past five years, the fluctuation of commodity price in international market and strength of USD relatively against other foreign exchanges, lead to the decline of Ethiopia’s export commodities, especially coffee, oilseed, gold, and leather.

The World Bank has been suggesting that the Ethiopian government should devaluate its currency by at least 10 percent, pointing out that in real terms it may lead to a five percent increase in export earnings and two percent increase in growth.

Ethiopia last devaluated its currency in 2010 by 17 percent but the value of Birr against international currencies has been depreciated from time to time due to floating exchange rate.

#Éthiopie #BM #dévaluation #monnaie #exportation

Oromo-Somali conundrum: Can Ethiopia tame the Liyu police? - OPride.com
▻https://www.opride.com/2017/09/26/oromo-somali-conundrum-can-ethiopia-tame-liyu-police

https://www.opride.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Oromia_ids.jpg

Ethiopia says hundreds of Oromos killed and hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced from their homes in still ongoing violent clashes in the Eastern part of the country.

Conflict along the border of Ethiopia’s Oromia and Somali states is not new. The two states have seen sporadic episodes of clashes and raids along the common border for more than a decade. But tensions escalated earlier this month after dozens of ethnic Somalis were killed in the city of Awaday in Eastern Oromia. In response, the Somali State’s paramilitary force known as the “Liyu Police” launched revenge attacks and began mass expulsion of ethnic Oromos from the state.

The Ethiopian government on Monday said more than 3,000 long-term Oromo residents of the semi-autonomous Somaliland were also illegally displaced. At least two Oromos were killed in revenge attacks in the Somaliland capital of Hargeisa earlier this month.

Locals in Oromia have complained for months about cross-border attacks and killings by the Liyu police. Yet, its attacks on civilians and expansionist raids have gone largely unreported, including a recent grenade attack at an elementary school in Miesso and the massacre of several dozen civilians in the town of Chinaksan.

#éthiopie #conflit #territoire

Africa highlights : Monday 25 September 2017 - BBC News
▻http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-40828906?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live
Le territoire des Somali est particulièrement touché par la #sécheresse et les #pénuries_alimentaires

The Ethiopian government says recent clashes between ethnic Somalis and Oromos have killed hundreds and displaced thousands from their homes.

“We can say hundreds of the Oromo ethnicity were killed... and there were also deaths from the Somali side. We don’t know exactly how many,” AFP news agency has quoted government spokesman Negeri Lencho as saying.

Historically, the relationship between the two groups has been characterised by territorial competition which often leads to disputes and conflicts over resources, including wells and grazing land.

Italy and the Addis Ababa massacre

For Italians, it was a garden-variety colonial atrocity. For Ethiopians it was a modern war crime

According to the Ethiopian government, 30,000 Ethiopians died during Italy’s campaign of terror in February 1937

▻https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21725277-italians-it-was-garden-variety-colonial-atrocity-ethiopians-it-was-modern?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/italyandtheaddisababamassacre

#histoire #colonialisme #colonisation #Ethiopie #Italie #massacre #terreur
#paywall

Ethiopia Imposes Nationwide Internet Blackout · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2017/06/01/ethiopia-imposes-nationwide-internet-blackout

https://globalvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/30148991982_fb0d081014_k-800x450.jpg

Last year, the government was forced to postpone the national university entrance exam after the initial session was marred by a leak spread on Facebook. Activists in the diaspora leaked questions on Facebook ahead of the exam in early June in 2016 after the government refused to re-schedule the exam for students who missed an entire semester of classes due to protests.

But the current blackout is different from previous mobile Internet and social media shutdowns that have been imposed in an effort to prevent exam leaking. This blackout is broader in scope and scale, effectively eliminating Ethiopia from the map of the global Internet.

This is especially easy for the Ethiopian government to do, since all Internet and phone service in the country is provided through through a single government-owned Internet service provider, Ethio Telecom. The blackout thus leaves businesses, banks, Internet cafes in Addis Ababa and social media pages of government media cut off from the rest of the world, making it harder for them to do their day-to-day work.

#Éthiopie #Internet #examens #censure #autorité

Ethiopia extends emergency as old antagonisms fester

The Ethiopian government has extended a nationwide state of emergency for four months, hailing it as successful in restoring stability after almost a year of popular protests and crackdowns that cost hundreds of lives.

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/848940957450031112/TKjI2lvH?format=jpg&name=600x314#.jpg

As new drought hits Ethiopia, UN urges support for Government’s ’remarkable’ efforts
▻http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=56063
/News/dh/photos/large/2017/January/Ethiopia_2016_Oromia_OCHA.jpg

Commending the Ethiopian Government and humanitarian partners on the response to last year’s El Niño drought that left 10.2 million people needing food assistance, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien today said the international community must show “total solidarity” with country as it faces a new drought.

“This High-Level event must express our total solidarity with the Ethiopian people and the Ethiopian Government. And let’s be clear: that solidarity is not a matter of generosity. It is a matter of justice and of self-interest,” the Secretary-General told those gathered for the event, held earlier today in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on the margins of the 28th Summit of the African Union.

#Éthiopie #sécheresse #climat #alimentation #malnutrition #faim #famine

Ethiopia: After a year of protests, time to address grave human rights concerns | Amnesty International
▻https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/ethiopia-after-a-year-of-protests-time-to-address-grave-human-rights-concer

Nearly one year on from the start of a wave of protests that has left at least 800 people dead at the hands of security forces, the Ethiopian government must take concrete steps to address grave human rights concerns in the country, Amnesty International said today.

The protests began in the central Oromia region on 12 November 2015, in opposition to the Addis Ababa Masterplan, a government plan to extend the capital Addis Ababa’s administrative control into parts of the Oromia.

#Ethiopie #répression #meurtres #contestation

An African salute and the protests shaking a nation | DEMOCRACY WORKS
▻http://democracyworks.org.za/an-african-salute-and-the-protests-shaking-a-nation

Media attention on the protests therefore couldn’t come at a more important time. Since Lilesa’s salute and following a horrific stampede at an Oromo thanksgiving festival at the start of October, killing between 52 and 300 people (concrete figures are difficult to come by in Ethiopia) after police used teargas, rubber bullets and batons on protesters, the Ethiopian government has ordered a six month state of emergency. It has also continued to blame the violence and deaths at protests on banded opposition groups and gangs funded by Ethiopia and Eritrea, the former of which has already denied the claim and the latter of which has maintained a frosty silence. Human Rights groups however implicate the security forces in the deaths.

As a result of the state of emergency, Ethiopia is on lock down. Foreign diplomats have been banned from travelling more than 40kms outside the capital, protests in schools, universities, and other higher education institutions are forbidden, there are country-wide curfews, security services are barred from resigning, satellite TV, pro-opposition news and foreign news are banned and posting links on social media a criminal activity. In short, there is a total news black-out of anything that is not state sponsored.

On the African continent, condemnation of Ethiopia’s actions by African governments has been very quiet. However, the protests have been well covered by African media and civil society organizations particularly in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa, while protests supporting the Oromo have taken place in South Africa and Egypt.

Although it is disappointing that African governments have not spoken out, it is important that the Ethiopian diaspora, along with African and global civil society continue to call loudly for an independent investigation into the deaths and violence occurring and that wealthy Western governments continue to evaluate their support for the increasingly authoritarian Ethiopian sta

#Éthiopie #contestation #répression #violences_policière #dictature

Ethiopia: Attack on Civil Society Escalates as Dissent Spreads | Freedom House
▻https://freedomhouse.org/blog/ethiopia-attack-civil-society-escalates-dissent-spreads

Amid discontent, sometimes violent protests, and a drought of historic proportions that has left more than 15 million Ethiopians in need of urgent food aid, the Ethiopian government is tightening its stranglehold on domestic politics.

In the wake of the large-scale protests that rocked the Oromia region from November to March, the government, led by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has taken a number of measures aimed at stifling dissent. While consistent with EPRDF’s authoritarian posture, these steps are a devastating blow to the country’s independent media and civil society.

#Ethiopie #dissidence #protestation #répression #climat #malnutrition #ong

Ethiopia’s vulnerable tropical forests are key to securing future of wild coffee
▻https://theconversation.com/ethiopias-vulnerable-tropical-forests-are-key-to-securing-future-of

In an effort to protect the country’s forest resources, the Ethiopian government adopted a nationwide policy of Participatory Forest Management (PFM), which bestows management responsibilities on communities that live near the forest and have had traditional rights to it.

Communities elect “forest management groups”, which include women, to administer their bit of forest for which they have secured tenured rights from the government. This helps them control access to the forest and stop deforestation. In return for the secure tenure and usage rights, the community has to ensure that the natural forest is maintained, which they do through regular monitoring.

This all takes time – a precious resource if you are a subsistence farmer. Rights to use coffee, honey, spices and other forest products provides an additional livelihood for people and compensation for looking after the forest. By making the forest pay it becomes a competitive land use, better able to compete with agriculture and motivating people to protect it and its valuable resources.

#Éthiopie #café #forêt #ressources_naturelles #biodiversité

Dispatches: Ethiopian Pastor Pays the Penalty for Speaking Out | Human Rights Watch
▻https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/15/dispatches-ethiopian-pastor-pays-penalty-speaking-out
▻https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/styles/open_graph/public/multimedia_images_2015/image002_copy_cropped.jpg?itok=tb-_FUA8

A year ago today, Ethiopian security forces arrested Pastor Omot Agwa and six colleagues at Addis Ababa’s Bole Airport and took them to the notorious Maekelawi police station, where torture is routine.

The arrest came several months after Omot, a respected activist from Ethiopia’s Gambella region, served as translator for the World Bank Inspection Panel. The panel investigated the Anuak indigenous people’s allegation that the Ethiopian government was committing widespread forced displacement and other serious human rights violations in relation to a World Bank project in Gambella.

#répression #terres #activisme #Éthiopie

This Interactive Map Plots The Sites Of Possible Ethiopian Government Assassinations Okayafrica.

▻http://www.okayafrica.com/news/oromo-protests-ethiopian-government-assassination-map

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ow many protesters have been killed during the recent uprisings against the Addis Ababa master plan?

Two weeks ago in their in-depth primer on the Oromo protests for Okayafrica, Hassen Hussein and Mohamed Ademo wrote that 40 people had been killed in the government crackdown. Human Rights watch estimates that 140 Oromo protesters have been killed since November 2015. One thing’s for sure, the Ethiopian government’s figure of 5 deaths is, to put it mildly, too low.

#éthipie#violence #droits_humains #cartographie_interactive

In Ethiopia’s Gambella region, refugee encampment policies meet a complex reality on the ground

Since the outbreak of civil war in December 2013, more than 600,000 South Sudanese have fled to neighbouring countries. More than 226,000 of them have made their way to Ethiopia, contributing to the country overtaking Kenya as the country hosting the most refugees in Africa. The western region of #Gambella hosts more than 270,000 of the Ethiopia’s total 280,000 South Sudanese refugees (48,000 have been in Ethiopia before the outbreak of the civil war). The Ethiopian government is attempting to govern this population through a strict policy of encampment, but the weak infrastructure of the region and the ethnic affinity of the refugees with the local population are making that difficult. Meanwhile, the influx is having significant political consequences.

▻http://www.refugee-rights.org/blog/?p=1031
#Ethiopie #réfugiés #asile #migrations #camp_de_réfugiés #Sud_Soudan

Ethiopia: Lethal Force Against Protesters | Human Rights Watch
▻https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/18/ethiopia-lethal-force-against-protesters

Police and military forces have fired on demonstrations, killing at least 75 protesters and wounding many others, according to activists. Government officials have acknowledged only five deaths and said that an undisclosed number of security force members have also been killed. On December 15, the government announced that protesters had a “direct connection with forces that have taken missions from foreign terrorist groups” and that Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Task Force will lead the response.

“The Ethiopian government’s response to the Oromia protests has resulted in scores dead and a rapidly rising risk of greater bloodshed,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s labelling of largely peaceful protesters as ‘terrorists’ and deploying military forces is a very dangerous escalation of this volatile situation.”

#Éthiopie #répression #terres #développement

Dam on Ethiopia’s Omo River Causing Hunger and Conflict | National Geographic (blogs)
▻http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/02/dam-on-ethiopias-omo-river-causing-hunger-and-conflict

http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/files/2015/12/herdman-bring-cattle-to-Omo.jpg

In the lower Omo River Valley of southern Ethiopia, a spreading humanitarian emergency that threatens to spawn conflicts in the region is largely being met with silence from both the Ethiopian government and the international community.

The filling of the reservoir behind Gibe III Dam on the Omo River is holding back the flows needed by some 200,000 indigenous people in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya to sustain their food production and livelihoods.

“People are starving and dying,” according to a trusted source who wished to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions from speaking out. “They need international support.”

#Éthiopie #barrage #peuples_autochtones #terres

How a World Bank Translator Became a Hunted Man | International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
▻http://www.icij.org/project/world-bank/how-world-bank-translator-became-hunted-man

The Ethiopian regime had various reasons for wanting to arrest Agwa, but at that moment, one loomed large: he had recently served as a translator and consultant for an investigation into whether government authorities had used World Bank money to bankroll a campaign of violent evictions targeting Agwa’s Anuak community.

The soft-spoken pastor arranged interviews for the bank’s Inspection Panel, its internal watchdog, with Anuak who told World Bank investigators about beatings, rapes and summary executions by Ethiopian soldiers —placing Ethiopia’s lucrative aid package from the bank into jeopardy. Months later, Agwa translated for a reporter from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on a newsgathering trip to Ethiopia.

Omot AgwaPastor Omot Agwa worked as a translator for the World Bank before his arrest. Image: Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas / WG Films

In February 2015, the Inspection Panel released its report, faulting the bank for failing to properly scrutinize the Ethiopian government’s programs before giving money to the regime. Soon after, Ethiopian government agents began hunting for Agwa, visiting his church, his family and leaving messages on his phone, he told human rights groups.

#éthiopie #peuples_autochtones #BM #discrimination #évictions_forcées #censures #violence_d'état #terres #militer

Ethiopian government campaign of murder in Gambela
▻http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/23949

In the past few months, tension begun between indigenous Majengir community and Ethiopian highlanders at Godere district, Gambela region. Ethiopian highland settlers in the area have been killing innocent civilians and the retaliations continued. The situation escalated during Ethiopian New year. On Thursday, 11 September 2014 eight (8) Majengir ethnic were indiscriminately murdered in cold blood in their own ancestral land. The highlanders went door to door hunting for Majengir ethnic community and displaced more than 3000 Majengir people.

About 835 people are in hiding in community church faced with lack of food, water and warm clothing. Godere district being one of the area with thick forest and fertile land in the region, is extremely cold exposing children and elderly people to diseases and hardship.

The cause of this high level insecurity and loss of innocent peoples’ lives is the Ethiopian government policy that is taking away the indigenous communities land and giving the land to so called investors both foreigners and Ethiopian highlanders. The Majengir like many other indigenous communities; mainly, Anuak, has been pushed off from their traditional land and are left with no option. The Majengir area is a rich area in coffee plantation and the Ethiopian highland settlers want to take this fertile area from the indigenous community. In the recent years, the number of Ethiopian highlanders has increased considerably, threatening the indigenous communities’ livelihoods and way of live. The area was a target for about 70,000 Ethiopian settlers from northern part of the country during brutal military regime.

#Ethiopie #colonisation #évictions #meurtres #terres

Why Blogging is a Threat to the Ethiopian Government
▻http://africasacountry.com/why-blogging-is-a-threat-to-the-ethiopian-government

As I write this, I am eerily reminded that in #Ethiopia, expressing your views can get you a first class ticket to prison. From April 25 to 26, 2014, nine Ethiopian #bloggers and journalists were arrested. As we celebrated World Press Freedom Day on Saturday, they were being detained in Addis Ababa’s notorious central investigation […]

#MEDIA #POLITICS #Anti-Terrorism #Committee_to_Protect_Journalists

‘Karuturi and government displaced locals, disrupted Gambela’
▻http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/23435-karuturi-and-government-displaced-locals-disrupted-gambela

The company (#Karuturi Global) farming operations in Ethiopia lacked consultations and prior consent of indigenous communities. It was unprecedented rush by the government to lease arable farmland traditionally owned by the subsistent and pastoralist communities in the remote Gambela. Gambela is home for thick forest, wild lives, abundant fish species, cattle herds and fertile arable farmland. These natural resources have been a source of livelihoods for over 3,00,000 indigenous people. This action by both Ethiopian government and Karuturi Global has led to loss of livelihoods, wild life transit corridors, destruction of natural environment, bio-diversity of the region, restrictions to natural habitat for numerous wild lives, and encroachment to Gambela National Park-home for many distinct animals.

The promises of creating employment and economic improvement to the country could not be realised. Neither, farming obligations as stipulated in the contract document were met. The company could only provide seasonal employment opportunities and could not sustain the labour demand. The presence of Karuturi Global in the region has wide spread human rights abuses, serious economic difficulties and social upheaval. The farm is being guarded by Ethiopian military forces who threaten, make arbitrary arrest and detain local farmers.

#agrobusiness #terres #Ethiopie #Gambella

Large land deals reportedly fruitless
▻http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/23311

A new report by the International Institute for Environment and Development entitled “Large-scale land deals In Ethiopia: scale, trends, features and outcomes to date,” states that allocating land to investors has not shown a lot of benefits.

“Ethiopian government representatives at both regional and federal level acknowledge that, while considerable amounts of land have been allocated to investors, performance to date in terms of production, employment, and development of land has been disappointing for the most part,” the report reads.

The report states that according to the Ministry of Agriculture, of 2.2 million hectares of land allocated only 17.6 percent has been developed.

#terres #Éthiopoie #rapport à télécharger ici
Large-scale land deals in Ethiopia: Scale, trends, features and outcomes to date
▻http://pubs.iied.org/12575IIED.html

#Ethiopia repatriates citizens from #Saudi_Arabia due to immigrant crackdown
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/ethiopia-repatriates-citizens-saudi-arabia-due-violent-migrant-wo

The Ethiopian government is repatriating its citizens living in Saudi Arabia illegally, after reports that an Ethiopian was killed by Saudi police, officials said Saturday. Last April, the Saudi government issued an amnesty period giving undocumented immigrants seven months to gain legal status or leave the country. “The ones who failed are the ones who are being repatriated,” the spokesman for the Ethiopian foreign ministry, Dina Mufti, told AFP. read (...)

#migrant_workers #Top_News