Recent Attacks on Ethnic Minorities Leaves 100 Dead

Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has said the Wednesday early-morning attack on ethnic minorities in western Ethiopia led to the death of more than 100 people. The attack came less than 24 hours after Ethiopia’s Premier discussed the security and reconciliation of Benishangul-Gumuz region residents.

The armed men behind the attack set fire to homes of sleeping residents in the Benishangul-Gumuz region. Also, attackers set fire to crops in the area. In the commission’s statement, a victim said he had sighted 18 fires.

The attack is believed to be part of the ongoing ethnic unrest in the region. Some victims said the attackers were well known to them.

Attack on ethnic minorities

With the attackers’ identities yet to be established, it is speculated that ethnic Gumuz forces perpetrated the latest attack.

According to Amnesty International’s publication, the attack seems to be the latest targeting the area’s ethnic minorities. Since September 2020, successive waves of attacks have been reported targeting ethnic Oromo, Shinasha, Amhara, and Agew residing in the Benishangul-Gumuz region.

In September 2020, armed men perpetrated attacks on ethnic Agew and Amhara residents of the region, killing about 45 people and displacing thousands.

In November 2020, EHRC reported the murder of at least 34 Agew and Amhara ethnics aboard a bus in Dibate District of the Benishangul-Gumuz region.

The armed assailants use the term “Qey” (meaning red) to refer to the non-Gumuz ethnic minority communities residing in the area. The term references the communities’ fair skin color. The ethnic Gumuz perceive the minority communities as ‘settlers’ in their land.

Government Response

On 22 December, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Metekel town, in the Benishangul-Gumuz region. The head of state held a meeting with regional officials to resolve the violence targeted at the area’s minority communities.

Apparently, the Premier’s effort bore no fruit in salvaging the situation. It took less than 24 hours after he held the meeting before the Wednesday attack was carried out.

Amnesty International has called on the Ethiopian authorities to clarify that such kind of violence will not be tolerated in the region.

Armed forces were reported to be in the area on Tuesday to reduce tension but soon left afterward. According to EHRC, there were no security forces or police in the area when the attack was carried out.

Ethiopia’s Violence

Reuters report that the continent’s second-most populous nation has experienced, consistent violence since the appointment of Abiy Ahmed. The Premier has carried out democratic reforms that have loosened the state’s grip on regional rivalries. With the electioneering period nearing, the violence and tension continue to heighten.

Apart from the western Ethiopia violence, federal forces have been fighting off rebels in the Nothern Tigray region for over six weeks. The Tigray conflict has left close to 950,000 displaced.

Also, the country is facing off Somali’s Islamist militants along its borders, and at the same time, trying to quell an insurgency in the Oromiya region.

Amnesty International projects the death toll of the recent attack is to rise to bear the fact that dozens are still unaccounted for.

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