benishangul gumuz sudan

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.. The dam is in Guba, one of the six districts in Metekkel. As of 2007, there were around 159,418 Gumuz in Ethiopia. Read more: ", 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. Analysts say the campaign in Tigray has hampered Mr. Abiys ability to stem clashes like the recent one in Benishangul-Gumuz, because it has forced him to divert soldiers from across Ethiopia to Tigray. 01 May 2023 17:03:29 In a Twitter thread, he said, It is clear that there is a plot designed to thwart our efforts and undermine our very existence. Getting people out of harms way and shielding them from serious protection risks also requires that their food needs are adequately addressed.. By the middle of the century, the wawi, the descendants of Arabs and Berta, had become the new ruling class. Separately, a European Union envoy warned the crisis in Tigray appears out of control, after visiting Ethiopia on behalf of the bloc. Sudans recent claim to Metekkel and particularly to Guba district has shocked the region. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government has provided scant information on recent violence in Benishangul-Gumuz, particularly in Metekel zone, where Debate is located. Sister exchange marriage. 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. What are the policies of neigbouring states toward the BSG region? 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 region's capital is Assosa. In a statement on 1 May, the government of Sudan claimed Benishangul-Gumuz as potentially its territorya provocation which the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly condemned. Those who supported the agreement argued that negotiation and compromise are positive by their nature and should be appreciated. Ethiopian officials have insisted that the dam will not impede on both Sudan and Egypt's water supply. They speak the Gumuz language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family. World Report 2021: Ethiopia | Human Rights Watch The other communities are not well represented in the local leadership framework. 21 The dam, Africa's largest, began generating electricity in February 2022, after 11 years of construction work. By drawing a bad lesson, other groups may also end up emulating similar measures. [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. 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. 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. With its vast and fertile land, Benishangul-Gumuz was once looked at as a crucial development corridor of the country. UNHCR, partners rush to aid thousands of refugees in Benishangul Gumuz 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. Nowadays it is simple to travel between the regional capital of Assosa and Gilgil Beles, the capital of the Metekel Zone. These regions served as slave-hunting grounds since Aksumite times, and their Nilosaharan-speaking inhabitants were pejoratively called Shanqella (anqlla, also Shanqila, Shankella) by the highland Ethiopians. . Minorities also deserve protection from tyrannical forms of majority ruleincluding forms that do not consider equal protection of minorities as essential, or which go so far as to engage in the forced assimilation and active annihilation of minority groups. It has also sounded the alarm over a very critical malnutrition situation unfolding in the Tigray region, citing continuing insecurity, bureaucracy and the presence of various armed actors as major obstructions to the efforts to deliver life-saving aid. Abiys visit to the area was, unfortunately, followed by an escalation of the conflict and mass killings. Rashid Abdi on Twitter: "Until yesterday, 3,364 people from 62 Concise, actionable scenarios and predictions from top regional experts. [15][14], Later in the 19th century, Benishangul was affected by the Mahdi uprising. Dozens Die in Ethnic Massacre in Troubled Ethiopian Region, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/world/africa/ethiopia-ethnic-killings.html. Ethiopia's new party is welcome news, but faces big hurdles. Gumuz who have had to flee their villages due to targeted violence from communities who cast blame en masse are not getting needed support. 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. These interest groups include actors from the neighbouring Amhara state who claim ownership of the Metekkel zone. 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 . The Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos invaded the area in 1617/18, and it fell to the Funj Sultanate in 1685. On Dec. 22, Mr. Abiy took time out from the campaign in Tigray to visit Benishangul-Gumuz and calm tensions in the area. Even small-scale farm holders used to produce surpluses each year. 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. I do not think the article addressed why the Gumuz rebel. And all the ethnic groups in the Metekkel zone should be protected and their issues addressed lawfully. The spiraling situation in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region An example is that settlers were attracted to a large irrigation project along the Kusa. More than 100,000 people have been displaced and 7,000 people have fled to Sudan. But it also unleashed simmering ethnic tensions. The most affected states are Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile, Lakes, Eastern Equatoria (Kapoeta East) and Warrap - more than 80 per cent of those food insecure. What are their hopes and their fears? "Experimenting with Non-Territorial Autonomy: Indigenous Councils 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. Violence in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz region is separate from the deadly conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, which has sent more than 61,000 Ethiopians into Sudan's . There have been reports that the Ethiopian National Defense Forces took measure on up to 500 youths reportedly coming from Sudan with training and armament. The 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. 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). Gumuz: a dialect survey report. These traders married into the Berta upper class and thus gained political influence. Metekkel zone has been placed under a command post that is directly responsible to the prime minister. 1234 Sudan Streat Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Material support, which has thus far been in short supply, should be accompanied by psychosocial support. Metekkel zone is one of three zones in the Benishangul-Gumuz state. The Region hosts Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and has been the site of intense ethnic killings throughout the past year. Insecurity has prevented people from accessing their land for next years farming. It was previously known as Region 6. Over 80 killed in attack in Ethiopian border region with Sudan - state Benishangul -Gumuz. There are several people, including children, who have lost their whole family due to the conflict. 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. Eighteen years later, marginalisation, ethnic exclusion, poor governance and the absence of workable democratic mechanisms have significantly affected community relations. The UNHCR said on Tuesday most of the 7,000 asylum seekers who fled Metekel have been living among Sudanese host communities. In the absence of justice, peace cannot prevail. [14], Little is known about its history before the 19th century. I Preniloti: unarcaica provincia culturale in Africa. The Gumuz practice shifting cultivation and their staple food is sorghum (Wallmark 1981). The Involvement of External Forces behind Metekel Conflict - The Reporter EIEP: Marginalization and persecution in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz Flag of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. 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. The proposition of arming civilians to curb the violence divided opinions. 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. What's causing the violence in western Ethiopia - The Conversation The Gumuz enjoyed administrative rights over Metekkel zone. 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. 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. Tsegaye is studying for a Peace and Development Work Masters degree at Linnaeus University in Sweden and is a political science lecturer at Assosa University. Ethiopia may not have control over the behavior of Egypt and Sudan. The region has faced major challenges to economic development, due to lack of transportation and communications infrastructure. All rights reserved. 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 Amhara state wants the right to administer Metekkel because it wants to control the zones mineral deposits and arable lands. 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. That means the election will only take place in Benishangul-Gumuzs Assosa Zone. 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. All the cooking and brewing is carried out in earthen pots, which are made by women. 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. But hitherto the default position of both the Ethiopian state and opposition forces is violence. 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. There have been repeated episodes of intercommunal violence over the years. . But the region is also home to minority Amharas, Oromos, Tigrayans and Agaws a source of escalating tension. 1975. Part of this work requires addressing the underlying factors that have fuelled the crisis. On April 22, the government-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commissionannounced that an armed group has taken full control of a county in Benishangul-Gumuz, killing and committing acts of violence against civilians, while security forces could not stop it. Please send an email to pro.support@al-monitor.com and we'll onboard your team. 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. The region's capital is Assosa. Lauren Blanchard on Twitter: "The access situation in Benishangul-Gumuz James, Wendy. A sharp increase in food and fuel costs and conflict-caused displacement are being compounded by a worsening climate crisis. The diplomatic dispute with Sudan and Egypt should be solved through dialogue and the dam negotiations should proceed amicably. I have no confidence in the proposed solution. An aerial view of the Nile is seen during World Water Day in Cairo, March 22, 2023. 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. 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. Both Egypt and Sudan argue that the dam affects the flow of the Nile waters into their respective countries. Amharas are the second most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia and they have been targeted repeatedly over the last year. The remaining four seats belong to the Mao Komo Special Wereda. The ethnic groups include the Berta (25.41%), Amhara (21.69%), Gumuz (20.88%), Oromo (13.55%), Shinasha (7.73%) and Agaw-Awi (4.22%). 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. driven curation of top business stories accross 12 industries in the region. Benishangul-Gumuz Region is one of the peripheral regions of Ethiopia bordering the Sudan. Various trade routes met in Benishangul, and local gold and Ethiopian amole (salt bars) were exchanged for slaves, cattle, horses, iron, civet, musk, coffee, ivory and honey (which also came from the Oromo areas of Sibu and Leeqaa). With national and international attention being pulled in many directionsmost notably towards war in Tigraythe problems of Benishangul-Gumuz are being eclipsed. Cite Ethiopia Insight and link to this page if republished. The problem is not against the principles of a peace dialogue; rather, it is with the points missed and incorporated into the agreement. Control of the area must be regained. As many social institutions and homes are destroyed, things like infrastructure building and support for reconstructing homes need to be considered. Moussa said that the Benishangul-Gumuz region was part of Sudan in the past, and that there is an Egyptian-Sudanese escalation in light of Ethiopias intransigence in the GERD file. UNHCR says most of the asylum seekers who fled ethnic violence in Benishangul-Gumuz region have been living among Sudanese host communities. Advertisement . And as a result, the Nile delta becomes the second most susceptible place on earth to climate change impacts in terms of sea level rise," says Karim Elgendy, an associate fellow at the Chatham Institute think tank. Returning the displaced people into their villages will bring durable solutions but should be carefully handled. Terms of the agreement that seemingly aimed at appeasing the militias included, among others, sharing power with militia members at the wereda, zonal and regional levels, creating job opportunities, offering access to financial support services, and giving urban and rural land to the members of the militias. "The sea is rising in the Mediterranean Sea, and the land is sinking in the Nile Delta. Thank you author and Ethiopia Insight. The Gumuz are one of the indigenous groups in Metekkel. info@moh.gov.et. 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.. "There'll be an imbalance in terms of less water supply and inflated demand," said Mahmoud. Benishangul - ethiodemographyandhealth.org Do their policies help peace or exacerbate conflict? Fighting broke out on 18 January in the town of Tongo - reportedly between unidentified armed groups and federal forces - and the nearby camp . I think Marx has correctly identified the weakness of this article. From Dust to Dollar: Gold mining and trade in the Sudan-Ethiopia The river provides nearly all Egyptians with drinking water. The Gumuz of the Lowlands of Western Gojjam: The frontier in History 1900-1935. [13], According to Negasso Gidada, Oromo penetration into the region began in the mid-18th century. 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. 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 . 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. The command post also tried to deter the militias by declaring that it would make door-to-door hunts and take all necessary measures to apprehend militia members. [9], There are 2 refugee camps and 1 transit center, housing 36,440 refugees from Sudan and South Sudan, located in Benishangul-Gumuz region. 1981. But it has lots of control over its internal problems through understanding and negotiations. 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. 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. 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. According to their traditions, in earlier times they inhabited the western parts of the province of Gojjam, but were progressively banished to the inhospitable area of the Blue Nile and its tributaries by their more powerful Afroasiatic-speaking neighbors, the Amhara and Agaw, who also enslaved them (Wolde-Selassie Abbute 2004). For the umpteenth time, we call on the federal and regional authorities to scale up security in Metekel, he said, referring to the district of Benishangul-Gumuz where the killings took place. Ethiopia: Whose Gamble Is Sudan Playing? - allAfrica.com Many considered Demekes speech to be emotion-led and forwarded under the pressure of Amhara nationalists. But if the ethnic federal framework is altered by the Prosperity Party, that would affect the interests of the majority Gumuz community profoundly. [15] Archaeologists have found sites that they date to the end of the 1st millennium BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium AD and assign them to the forerunners of today's Komuz-speaking ethnic groups. [4][5][6], Many changes occurred for the Gumuz people from the 1980s through to the 2010s. 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. With an estimated area of 49,289.46 square kilometers, this Region has an estimated density of 15.91 people per square kilometer. It even considers that it is the only country entitled to the Nile waters, which Egypt totally rejects. 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. 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. It is worrying indeed that the attention of national and international actors is turned almost exclusively to the war in Tigray. 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. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. They also began to spread Islam among the Berta. As President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier, all options are open in preserving Egypt's right to the Nile waters, and the waters of the Nile River are ared line for the Egyptians., Sisi had warned April 7, No one can take a single drop of water from Egypt [and] all options are open., On March 30, Sisi said during a press conference, We are not threatening anyone, but no one can take a drop of water from Egypt [or] the region would witness a state of instability that no one can imagine., Awadi said, Ethiopia insists on the second filling of the GERD reservoir even before a binding legal agreement with Egypt and Sudan is reached. Sudan - The number of Ethiopian refugees in eastern Sudan - OCHA The Gumuz speak the Gumuz language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family (Bender 1979). 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. These attacks were premeditated and highly prepared, he said. It is worrying indeed that the attention of national and international actors is turned almost exclusively to the war in Tigray. 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. Indeed, on 10 June, there was a report of an attack by militias in Oda Bulidigilu Wereda which is located in Assosa Zone. 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. 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.. In several parts of the Gumuz area, the settlers' economy dominated by 2018. He was born in Metekel and worked in Benishangul-Gumuz for almost a decade. Billene Seyoum, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Abiy, did not respond to questions about the violence.
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