Putting an immediate and lasting end to violence is the first step towards assessing and addressing the heavy impact of unconstrained fighting. I have no confidence in the proposed solution. Rising sea levels are prompting saltwater intrusions that are not only affecting water supply but also spoiling agricultural farmland, according to water management experts. Grottanelli, Vinigi, L. 1948. 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. The claim stems from the belief that Guba was gifted to Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia (1889-1913) by Khalifa Abdullahi, a Sudanese Mahdist leader, in 1897. By foregoing action to investigate crimes and ensure accountability, the signed agreement has also neglected the issue of justicea foundation of sustainable peace. The country is facing an annual water deficit and is estimated to be categorized as water scarce by 2025, according to the United Nations. It is becoming unsafe to present identity cards that show the holders ethnicity, even at security checkpoints, as this may result in persecution. Meanwhile, the security response in Benishangul-Gumuz is not showing any capability of de-escalation. Since then, death from violence been rampant in the whole region. Disarming the armed group could have been a better solution than arming the unarmed group which will likely fuel further conflict, putting the area into a vicious cycle of conflict. 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. [6] It had a projected population of 1,127,001 in 2018.[2]. The remaining four seats belong to the Mao Komo Special Wereda. The Benishangul Gumuz Peoples Liberation Movement (BPLM) was Sudan based rebel group built its operational zones in Benishangul Gumuz Region around remote areas of Assosa zone. Sudans recent claim to Metekkel and particularly to Guba district has shocked the region. But a day later, armed men attacked a village, leaving at least 100 people dead, according to human rights groups. In the absence of justice, peace cannot prevail. This is because the Blue Nile, which originates from Ethiopia, supplies up to 80% of the Nile waters. Bambasi has a longitude and latitude of 945N 3444E with an elevation of 1668 meters above sea level. To do so, its necessary to assess the success and failure of the previous strategies attempted by the command post in an effort to end fighting. And all the ethnic groups in the Metekkel zone should be protected and their issues addressed lawfully. Slavery did not disappear in Ethiopia until the 1940s. Despite some progress, the humanitarian response remains drastically inadequate compared to the sheer magnitude of needs across the region, the UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA) said in a report on Saturday. Since 2019, a cross-border collaboration programme has been implementing activities aimed to develop and enhance income-generating opportunities in the border area of Benishangul-Gumuz Region (Ethiopia) and Blue Nile State (Sudan), as a means of strengthening the population's resilience to instability and displacement and to improve overall living conditions. 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 five largest ethnic groups in Benishangul-Gumuz were the Berta (27%), Gumuz (23%), Amhara (22%), Oromo (13%) and Shinasha (7%). The number of refugees arriving per month has been steadily reducing and in May only 159 new arrivals were registered in Kassala and Geraref and another 162 new . "The sea is rising in the Mediterranean Sea, and the land is sinking in the Nile Delta. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Are there fears of exclusion? There are also competing interests from actors in Sudan and Egypt who are opposed to the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in Metekkel, and local elements who are unhappy with the formation of Ethiopias new ruling Prosperity Party. If you dont influence it now then the circumstances will build so that there are more and more refugees coming.. The violence might have ethnic undertones but this is a political conflict at heart. 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. Flag of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. Still, the killings should have been condemned in the strongest terms possible, and the agreement should have included an attempt to do so. 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. The Gumuz practice shifting cultivation and their staple food is sorghum (Wallmark 1981). Eighteen years later, marginalisation, ethnic exclusion, poor governance and the absence of workable democratic mechanisms have significantly affected community relations. Control of the area must be regained. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Unseth, Peter. Though a transit road has been built and commercial farms established in the lower basin the Gumuz people were seen in 2018 as politically "peripheral" in regard to the Ethiopian highlands that hold the power in the country. But funding gaps has forced @WFP to make difficult decisions about who receives food and who goes without. Photo: Benishangul Gumuz communication bureau Addis Abeba - A peace and development conference between senior officials of Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz region and Sudan's Blue Nile state has started today in Ad-Damazin city, the capital city of Sudan's Blue Nile state. The Gumuz speak the Gumuz language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family (Bender 1979). The name of the region comes from two peoples Berta (also called Benishangul) and Gumuz. [18] In 1898, Asosa became the political and economic capital. What is the rationale behind having an ethnic identity card? 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. The Gumuz have traditionally been grouped with other Nilotic peoples living along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border under the collective name Shanqella (Pankhurst 1977). Concise, actionable scenarios and predictions from top regional experts. Do any of these explain the rebellion? 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. Fighting broke out on 18 January in the town of Tongo - reportedly between unidentified armed groups and federal forces - and the nearby camp . The diplomatic dispute with Sudan and Egypt should be solved through dialogue and the dam negotiations should proceed amicably. The situation [in Metekel] has rapidly escalated in the past three months, Babar Baloch, UNHCR spokesman, told reporters in Geneva. 21 The dam, Africa's largest, began generating electricity in February 2022, after 11 years of construction work. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said more than 180 people were killed in separate massacres in Metekel in December and January. As "Shanquella", they are already mentioned by Scottish explorer James Bruce in his Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, published in 1790. 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. 1986. 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. 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. Haavisto repeated urgent calls from the international community for the Ethiopian government to grant full humanitarian access to Tigray, including areas beyond its control. 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). Studies in Gumuz: Sese phonology and TMA system. The EU has joined the United States in demanding Eritrean troops withdraw. Immediately following the meeting, Ahmed issued a statement accusing foreign parties, in reference to Egypt, of causing chaos and instability in the country. 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. Their claim to the entire Metekkel zone has fuelled Gumuz militia attacks on non-Gumuz residents. The access situation in Benishangul-Gumuz and parts of western Oromia has evolved since OCHA's map from late January - some improvements but still large areas "hard-to-reach" due to the security situation & related restrictions. Built on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region, just 30 km from the border with Sudan, the GERD is nearing completion, with the Ethiopian government announcing in March 2023 that 90 per cent of the dam was finalized. Cereal crops are kept in granaries decorated with clay lumps imitating female breasts. On the other hand, Egypt considers the dam a major threat to its food security. Its main inhabitants are the Gumuz, Oromo, Awi, Amhara, and Shinasha communities. More than 70 percent of refugees in need, do not receive a full ration due to funding shortfalls. There was resettlement of highlanders to their area, particularly linked to the availability of land and water. Ethiopias former ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front. Over 10,000 militia members were recruited and received government-sponsored military training in all weredas of the Metekel Zone. 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. [15][14], Later in the 19th century, Benishangul was affected by the Mahdi uprising. The GERD is expected to make the country a major power exporter in the region. It was previously known as Region 6. The dust of the violence in Metekel has not yet settled and threatens to spread into neighboring zones, raising fears of escalating conflict. Guba is the closest district to Sudan. Luxury goods such as textiles and glass beads were imported via Sudan. ", 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. Our Vision is to see Healthy, Productive, and Prosperous Citizens of Ethiopia. In. What are the policies of neigbouring states toward the BSG region? 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. He was born in Metekel and worked in Benishangul-Gumuz for almost a decade. Memos - premium analytical writing: actionable insights on markets and geopolitics. This claim gained momentum after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed power in April 2018. Finally, Benishangul-Gumuz local government officials have owned up to orchestrating ethnic targeted killings in Metekkel as push back against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's new Prosperity Party,. Material support, which has thus far been in short supply, should be accompanied by psychosocial support. [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. Klausberger, Friedrich. Why Ethiopia's new leader could be a game changer. In. . As "Shanquella", they are already mentioned by Scottish explorer James Bruce in his Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, published in 1790. But attacks and tensions remain high. ", The following day, Ethiopias Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele referred to plots against his country, due to the GERD. That is why we must all persevere and do our part., Ethiopias parliamentary committee tasked with appraising the dispute over the GERD officially accused Sudan and Egypt on March 5 of standing behind the violence in the Benishangul-Gumuz region.. Benishangul Gumuz regional authorities have shown solidarity with refugees and identified a new temporary site with capacity to accommodate 20,000 people. All the cooking and brewing is carried out in earthen pots, which are made by women. Advertisement . The growth in needs here mirrors what we see happening around the globeand we implore the world not to turn its back on this region and, in particular, the extremely vulnerable communities of refugees who have limited access to livelihoods and rely on WFP to survive.. Amharas are the second most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia and they have been targeted repeatedly over the last year. Trend Reports - Deep dive analysis on market updates. Abiys visit to the area was, unfortunately, followed by an escalation of the conflict and mass killings. The UN says that areas where 80 percent of the regions population live remain cut off from assistance. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been a part of a contentious decade-long dispute involving Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. With its vast and fertile land, Benishangul-Gumuz was once looked at as a crucial development corridor of the country. Photo: Benishangul Gumuz regional government Addis Abeba - The Benishangul Gumuz regional government said it has signed a peace agreement on 10 December with the armed group Benishangul People's Liberation Movement (BPLM) in Khartoum, Sudan. 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. [8] Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living for Benishangul-Gumuz as of 2005[update] include the following: 19.1% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 47.4% and for women 23.2%; and the regional infant mortality rate is 84 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is greater than the nationwide average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants first month of life. #NEWS ALERT The number of #refugees in eastern Africa has tripled in the last decade to almost 5 million. Mr. Abiys decision to open up Ethiopian politics after he came to power in 2018, releasing political prisoners and allowing exiles to return, was widely acclaimed. 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. Benishangul-Gumuz ( Amharic: , romanized : Benangul Gumuz) is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia to the border of Sudan. Communal trauma should not be underestimated. The choice may be clear : it may be a bitter pill to swallow: do we want to see one Ethiopia, living in a relative peace ,by changing some agreement on the dam or sticking to our current position and face the eternal infighting and the disintegration of the country? 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. The command post set a deadline for the militias to lay down their arms and surrender on 8 December 2020. This is an escalation of the border dispute between Sudan and. 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. Part of this work requires addressing the underlying factors that have fuelled the crisis. It even considers that it is the only country entitled to the Nile waters, which Egypt totally rejects. But the region is also home to minority Amharas, Oromos, Tigrayans and Agaws a source of escalating tension. [19] Until the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in the mid-1930s, the area supplied gold and slaves to the central government on a large scale. Dessalegn Chanie, an Amhara opposition politician, said there had been signs in recent days that armed men from the Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups were preparing an attack, particularly in areas where there was little federal security presence. It hosts more than 70,000 refugees from those countries, as well as more than a half-million Ethiopians internally displaced by. The dam's impact on the water supply depends on how fast it's filled, according to Elgendy. As it used to be among the Sudanese Uduk, marriage is through sister exchange. The Gumuz also hunt wild animals, such as duikers and warthogs, and gather honey, wild fruits, roots and seeds. It was previously known as Region 6. 1234 Sudan Streat Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ethiopia Atlas of Key Demographic and Health Indicators, 2005." 1994. It borders the Amhara and Oromia states, and Sudan. All premium Industry Newsletters - Monitor the Middle East's most important industries. [4] Background [ edit] Ethnic tensions [ edit] 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 boundary was confirmed in 1902 by Ethiopia and Sudan. There have been repeated episodes of intercommunal violence over the years. Unseth, Peter. At the same time as Ashadli Hassan, the regional president, and the command post were signing agreements with unnamed leaders of the Gumuz militia in Gilgel Beles and the administrative center of Metekel Zone, militia members were attacking the Almahal town in Guba Wereda. I Preniloti: unarcaica provincia culturale in Africa. Negotiations over an agreement between the three nations over the filling of the dam have stalled recently. On Dec. 22, Mr. Abiy took time out from the campaign in Tigray to visit Benishangul-Gumuz and calm tensions in the area. As the Berta People's Liberation Movement[21] or Benishangul People's Liberation Movement (BPLM), they - like the Gambella People's Liberation Movement of the Anuak in Gambella - were not accepted as full members of the EPRDF, but became regional partners of the new ruling coalition.[13]. Topographically, the . Those living near the Sudanese borderland converted to Islam and a few are Christians, but most Gumuz still maintain traditional religious practices. This page was last edited on 12 March 2023, at 23:23. Benishangul-Gumuz is also home to the government's prestige $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. With national and international attention being pulled in many directionsmost notably towards war in Tigraythe problems of Benishangul-Gumuz are being eclipsed. 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 . Secondly, taking military measures against the militias was not also effective in resolving or even minimizing the violence. Bender, M. Lionel. The region has 20 weredas and two Special Weredas making three Zones of the region. The incumbent parliament has 99 seats. The stories the refugees are bringing they are fleeing attacks from their opponents, Baloch said. (Calverton: Macro International, 2008), http://catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/catalog/3583/download/50086, "Exhibiting Cultures of Contact: A Museum for Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia", "Ethiopia and the Mahdiyya You Call Me a Chicken? 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. Egypts Al-Bawaba News, which is close to the state, reported in an April 23 article that a civil war is unfolding in Ethiopia due to the poor economic and social conditions in the country and its citizens being marginalized and isolated. 1958. Benishangul-Gumuz (Amharic: , romanized:Benangul Gumuz) is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia bordering Sudan. The town is named after the highest point in the Asosa Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Mount Bambasi. This has received mixed reactions among residents and watchers of the region. In, James, Wendy. John Young, "Along Ethiopia's Western Frontier: Gambella and Benishangul in Transition". Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. In particular, the proposed power-sharing arrangements with the militias has raised many eyebrows. 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 Region hosts Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and has been the site of intense ethnic killings throughout the past year. "It will determine the impact of this disruption and the reduction to the volumes of water that goes to Egypt," he said. The Gumuz have traditionally been grouped with other Nilotic peoples living along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border under the collective name Shanqella (Pankhurst 1977). Villages have been razed to the ground. Concerning religion, 44.98% of the population were Muslim, 33.3% were Orthodox Christians, 13.53% were Protestant, and 7.09% practiced traditional beliefs. 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. Many considered Demekes speech to be emotion-led and forwarded under the pressure of Amhara nationalists. [14][20], Resistance to the Mengistu regime here came mainly from the Berta. They speak the Gumuz language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family. "There'll be an imbalance in terms of less water supply and inflated demand," said Mahmoud. This is the viewpoint of the author.