Mereja.Forum

[Abdisa]

An Ethiopian surgeon told Human Rights Watch that despite being in the upper echelons of the pay scale, he earned only US$80 a month. “I cannot even change my shoes,” he said. “I cannot even properly feed my child.”

Ethiopia: Crackdown on Health Workers’ Protests

Government Should Commit to Addressing Their Grievances

June 25, 2025 11:00PM EDT
| News Release



(Nairobi) – The Ethiopian authorities should immediately rescind the suspension of a prominent health professionals organization and meaningfully address public healthcare workers’ outstanding grievances, Human Rights Watch said today.

The government suspended the Ethiopian Health Professionals Association (EHPA) in early June 2025, following over a month of strikes by public healthcare workers for better working conditions and adequate pay. During the work stoppages, the authorities arbitrarily detained dozens of public healthcare workers across Ethiopia, either without charge or for peacefully exercising basic liberties. On May 30, the EHPA called for “an immediate stop” to “dismissals from work,” the use of “threats and intimidation,” and vacancy postings aimed at replacing striking professionals.

Read more
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/06/25/eth ... s-protests

[Abdisa]

Every 4 months, our government borrows $3.4 billion dollars from the IMF to buy weapons to kill innocent people.

IMF's "Structural Adjustment Program" prohibits borrowers from spending the money on healthcare and education.

Ethiopian government officials and their cadres care more about their pet dogs than the doctors who can't feed their families, or the 4.5 million children in the Amhara region who can't attend schools due to daily drone strikes on schools, Churches, Mosques, and public places.

[Fiyameta]

The high school dropout Horus makes more money than Ethiopian doctors.

[Abdisa]

We are in deep trouble. I don't think we can survive this one.