The rights group said the Gumuz set the homes on fire and stabbed and shot residents. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. The Gumuz are one of the indigenous groups in Metekkel. Sudans recent claim to Metekkel and particularly to Guba district has shocked the region. Prioritize your target industries for weekly review: We also offer team plans. Concerning religion, 44.98% of the population were Muslim, 33.3% were Orthodox Christians, 13.53% were Protestant, and 7.09% practiced traditional beliefs. Benishangul-Gumuz (Amharic: , romanized:Benangul Gumuz) is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia bordering Sudan. The boundary was confirmed in 1902 by Ethiopia and Sudan. Even heavily guarded transport vehicles traveling to the GERD site, escorted by troops of armed personnel, are not safe from militia attacks. The command post set a deadline for the militias to lay down their arms and surrender on 8 December 2020. Trend Reports - Deep dive analysis on market updates. Zanni, Leone. 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 Ethiopia but has struggled to contain a growing wave of ethnic violence. In other words, the upcoming election will be conducted in 46 regional constituencies, and will not take place in 53 constituencies due to security reasons. It said it was working with local authorities in the Blue Nile province to respond to the humanitarian needs of the newly arrived, many of whom have arrived in hard-to-reach places along the border. 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. Trading in slaves in Bela-Shangul and Gumuz, Ethiopia: border enclaves in history, 1897-1938. The proposition of arming civilians to curb the violence divided opinions. [14][20], Resistance to the Mengistu regime here came mainly from the Berta. At least 7,000 people who fled escalating ethnic violence in western Ethiopia have sought asylum in neighbouring Sudan, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has said, amid heightened tensions between the two neighbouring countries. 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. [13], According to Negasso Gidada, Oromo penetration into the region began in the mid-18th century. "Folks have never actually went to war just because of water. UNHCR says most of the asylum seekers who fled ethnic violence in Benishangul-Gumuz region have been living among Sudanese host communities. [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. Feuds between clans are common and they are usually solved by means of an institution of conflict resolution, called mangema or michu[3] depending on the region. UNHCR and partners move refugees to safety in the Benishangul Gumuz region in Ethiopia. The river provides nearly all Egyptians with drinking water. It hosts more than 70,000 refugees from those countries, as well as more than a half-million Ethiopians internally displaced by. Ethnic violence poses a major challenge to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as he tries to promote national unity in a country with more than 80 ethnic groups. 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. 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.. Read more: These traders married into the Berta upper class and thus gained political influence. We are seeing the beginning of one more potentially big refugee crisis in the world, Haavisto said. Material support, which has thus far been in short supply, should be accompanied by psychosocial support. Commenting on the Ethiopian parliament's accusations that Egypt and Sudan are involved in the violence in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Awadi, undersecretary of the Egyptian parliamentary Defense and National Security Committee, told Al-Monitor, Egypt will not keep quiet toward Ethiopias intransigence regarding the GERD. In, James, Wendy. 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. 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. The region's capital is Assosa. Climate change, population growth and a regional fight for water resources are all contributing to the risk of water imbalance, experts say. This claim gained momentum after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed power in April 2018. But if the ethnic federal framework is altered by the Prosperity Party, that would affect the interests of the majority Gumuz community profoundly. 28 Apr 2023 16:34:36 What are their hopes and their fears? [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. The attacks further threaten the stability of Africas second-most populous nation at a time when Mr. Abiy is already embroiled in an escalating conflict in the northern Tigray region, where he launched a major military operation on Nov. 4 that he said was intended to capture defiant local leaders. 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. Ethiopia: Whose Gamble Is Sudan Playing? - allAfrica.com Part of this work requires addressing the underlying factors that have fuelled the crisis. Flag of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. Guba is the closest district to Sudan. [citation needed]. The regional government announced the signing of an agreement with the militia group on 18 May in Gilgel Beles town. 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. The Involvement of External Forces behind Metekel Conflict - The Reporter Their claim to the entire Metekkel zone has fuelled Gumuz militia attacks on non-Gumuz residents. Spirits are called mus'a and are thought to dwell in houses, granaries, fields, trees and mountains. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd, Ethiopia's new party is welcome news, but faces big hurdles, area has become a juncture for different interest groups, actors from the neighbouring Amhara state, Why Ethiopia's new leader could be a game changer, opposed to the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam without negotiation, owned up to orchestrating ethnic targeted killings, Chief of Staff (Global Culture and Engagement), Lecturer in Environmental Art - School of Art and Design. 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. Even small-scale farm holders used to produce surpluses each year. 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. 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. As of 2007, there were around 159,418 Gumuz in Ethiopia. Sudan: Blue Nile State Profile (Updated March 2022) - Sudan The Gumuz also hunt wild animals, such as duikers and warthogs, and gather honey, wild fruits, roots and seeds. It needs to change. Finds attributing them to the Berta date from the 17th to 20th centuries and are mainly located on mountains, hills and in rocky areas that are easy to defend. 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. Egypt is not the only country that depends on the river -- it's shared by 11 African countries. 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). Benishangul-Gumz Regional Health Bureau; Benishangul-Gumz Regional Health Bureau. Finally, the regional government felt obliged to engage in a dialogue and negotiation with the Gumuz militia. As "Shanquella", they are already mentioned by Scottish explorer James Bruce in his Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, published in 1790. People are not receiving the humanitarian support they need and the attention they deserve. Still, the killings should have been condemned in the strongest terms possible, and the agreement should have included an attempt to do so. In particular, the proposed power-sharing arrangements with the militias has raised many eyebrows. [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. Its main inhabitants are the Gumuz, Oromo, Awi, Amhara, and Shinasha communities. Often the Gumuz' lands were allocated to transnational or domestic investors. Of course, fulfilling the preconditions requires coordinated and concerted action among humanitarian organizations and government entities. Insecurity has prevented people from accessing their land for next years farming. There was resettlement of highlanders to their area, particularly linked to the availability of land and water. Benishangul - ethiodemographyandhealth.org Rural population was 424,432, while the urban population was 36,027. Ahmad, Abdussamad H. 1999. On the other hand, Egypt considers the dam a major threat to its food security. The Gumuz were hunted as slaves in the era of the emperors. Benishangul-Gumuz Region is one of the peripheral regions of Ethiopia bordering the Sudan. The sun rises behind the skyline of Egypt's capital Cairo and its Nile river island of Manial, Nov. 3, 2022. Amnesty International reported in December that members of the ethnic Gumuz community the ethnic majority in the region attacked the homes of ethnic Amhara, Oromo and Shinasha. 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. Receive daily updates directly in your inbox -, Eastern Africa: Millions displaced, amid growing hunger, unprecedented needs, FAO ramps up support to Sudan farmers as starvation threat grows in East Africa, Hunger still rising across East Africa, says new UN-backed report, Battle not yet over against locust invasions in East Africa and Yemen, Humanitarians urge action to avert famine in Somalia and South Sudan, Sub-Saharan Africa under threat from multiple humanitarian crises. 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. Violence Displaces Sudanese, South Sudanese Refugees in Ethiopia - VOA Photos from the aftermath of the attack, provided by local activists, showed bloodied bodies of women and children strewn on the ground, many with horrific wounds. News: Benishangul Gumuz region signs peace agreement with second rebel Haavisto also warned that Sudan is struggling to cope with the influx of people fleeing the fighting and said it risked creating a major refugee crisis. I Preniloti: unarcaica provincia culturale in Africa. Advertisement . The Benshangul/Gumuz Region lies on Ethiopia's western border with Sudan, and shares internal borders with Amhara and Oromia Regions. Sister exchange marriage. As "Shanquella", they are already mentioned by Scottish explorer James Bruce in his Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, published in 1790. What are the historical and social contexts? Most Gumuz members live in a bush-savanna lowland environment. 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. 1975. In December 2019, about 200 people were killed in the Metekel massacre. 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 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. The violence might have ethnic undertones but this is a political conflict at heart. ", The following day, Ethiopias Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele referred to plots against his country, due to the GERD. 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. 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. The number of hungry people in the Sahel and West Africa hasquadrupledover the last three years, currently reaching41 million, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday. And all the ethnic groups in the Metekkel zone should be protected and their issues addressed lawfully. 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. 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. Days later, the national army regained control of the town, but the event laid bare a deteriorated security apparatus, leaving many civilians with the impression that they have little hope for proper protection. 03 Untangling Ethiopia and Sudan's shared cross-border issues 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. This figure does not include the uncounted and unreported displacement of Gumuz and Shinasha people that took place within Metekel Zone. The dam is in Guba, one of the six districts in Metekkel. Secondly, taking military measures against the militias was not also effective in resolving or even minimizing the violence. What we need from the Ethiopian government is the green light to the humanitarian community to negotiate access to the Eritrean-controlled areas, to the opposition-controlled areas, he said. Egypt's support for the rebels is very probable, as the Nile waters consist of a life or death matter for the Egyptians, and it is possible for Egypt to use all the cards to pressure Addis Ababa in its battle with Ethiopia.. According to the regions constitution, the Benishangul-Gumuz State Council should have less than 100 seats. [15][14], Later in the 19th century, Benishangul was affected by the Mahdi uprising. If you dont influence it now then the circumstances will build so that there are more and more refugees coming.. 1993. Immediately following the meeting, Ahmed issued a statement accusing foreign parties, in reference to Egypt, of causing chaos and instability in the country. In, Wallmark, Peter. [22], Over 60% of this region is covered with forest, including bamboo, eucalyptus and rubber trees, incense and gum forests as well as the indigenous species. As a result, the militias are strengthening their holdings and bargaining power. The mob killing of a Gumuz man in Chagni, on 12 April, in the heart of the town in front of government authorities, is one of many signs of uncontained chaos. 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. Violence in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz region is separate from the deadly conflict in Ethiopias northern Tigray region, which has sent more than 61,000 Ethiopians into Sudans provinces of al-Qadarif and Kassala since fighting erupted in November. The diplomatic dispute with Sudan and Egypt should be solved through dialogue and the dam negotiations should proceed amicably. Metekkel zone is one of three zones in the Benishangul-Gumuz state. 01 May 2023 17:03:29 Severe climate shocks Globally, floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and intense, severely. 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. Since then, death from violence been rampant in the whole region. 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. Unseth, Peter. Metekkel zone has been placed under a command post that is directly responsible to the prime minister. There have been repeated episodes of intercommunal violence over the years. Luxury goods such as textiles and glass beads were imported via Sudan. Regardless, some efforts were tried and they all failed. Hence, the regional and the federal government should collaboratively work to investigate the situation and bring the perpetrators to account. The stories the refugees are bringing they are fleeing attacks from their opponents, Baloch said. " The Benishangul-Gumuz region borders Sudan and South Sudan. All premium Industry Newsletters - Monitor the Middle East's most important industries. These interest groups include actors from the neighbouring Amhara state who claim ownership of the Metekkel zone. In a Twitter thread, he said, It is clear that there is a plot designed to thwart our efforts and undermine our very existence. By drawing a bad lesson, other groups may also end up emulating similar measures. 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. Egypt's population of 109 million is projected to grow significantly in decades, further straining the demand for water in the region. The growth in refugee numbers has not been matched by a growth in resources, forcing WFP to make difficult decisions about who receives food assistance and who goes without. Benishangul-Gumuz conflict - Wikipedia The Gumuz have traditionally been grouped with other Nilotic peoples living along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border under the collective name Shanqella (Pankhurst 1977). [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. Memos - premium analytical writing: actionable insights on markets and geopolitics. 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.
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