Mereja.Forum

[Za-Ilmaknun]

Amhara region is the second most populous region in Ethiopia. Its northern neighbour is the Tigray region, which was the epicentre less than a year ago of the most destructive civil war in the history of modern Ethiopia. Combined with a political climate that is dominated by ethnic narratives, ethnic parties and regional militias, the current crisis in Amhara has sparked fears of another civil war.

Political tensions with ethnic undertones have been high in Ethiopia. However, forced displacements and massacres targeting ethnic Amharas have continued under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s watch since 2018.

In 2019 Ethiopia was ranked first in the world for the number of internally displaced people. This was more than those displaced by wars in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.

With ethnic polarisation higher than ever, pan-Ethiopian unity forces and political parties lost their appeal long ago. Ethnic grievances are now the main organising principles in Ethiopia, which shows why Amharas who were mostly known for supporting national political movements are now organising just as Amharas.

In the last two years alone, ethnic Amharas were displaced from suburbs surrounding Addis Ababa, the capital. Amharas also continue to face harassment by Oromia’s security forces when travelling to Addis Ababa, which is a self administrating city but geographically an enclave of Oromia region.

Then there’s the government’s reliance on ethnic-based militias, such as Amhara Fano fighters whenever it deemed necessary to ensure its survival. During the federal government’s war on Tigray, for example, the overstretched Ethiopia National Defence Force mobilised Amhara youth to fight. Following the war, the Fano emerged well-armed and much stronger with somewhat obscure but seemingly centralised command. This unsettled Abiy and led directly to the present crisis.

https://theconversation.com/ethiopias-a ... war-211754
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ethiopias-am ... 10595.html