Benishangul - ethiodemographyandhealth.org With widespread instability and difficulty reaching IDPs, victims of violence are out of arms reach from humanitarian assistancewhether from the regional government or from national and international non-governmental organizations. The murky politics behind the Metekel massacres, Benishangul conflict spurred by investment, land titling, rumors, Although the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE). Alessandro Triulzi, "Asosa", in: Siegbert Uhlig (Hrsg.). [14], Little is known about its history before the 19th century. On April 19, Ahmed said that Ethiopia will fill the GERD reservoir in July and August, despite objections from the two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan. The problem is not against the principles of a peace dialogue; rather, it is with the points missed and incorporated into the agreement. The dust of the violence in Metekel has not yet settled and threatens to spread into neighboring zones, raising fears of escalating conflict. All rights reserved. Most Gumuz members live in a bush-savanna lowland environment. 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. Isnt your residence enough for identity and language service purposes? About 90% of Egypt's population lives along the Nile River, with the waterway providing nearly all Egyptians with drinking water. Turmoil blocks aid as communal conflict rages in gold-seamed [13] Besides slaves, gold was traditionally an important export of Benishangul. 2023 Al-Monitor, LLC. With mounting grievances against the regime, on 12 October 2020, the then chairman of the command post and deputy prime minister, Demeke Mekonnon, strangely and officially called people in Metekel to organize and arm themselves for defense. Over 10,000 militia members were recruited and received government-sponsored military training in all weredas of the Metekel Zone. Comparative Komuz grammar. Communal trauma should not be underestimated. But hitherto the default position of both the Ethiopian state and opposition forces is violence. If you dont influence it now then the circumstances will build so that there are more and more refugees coming.. 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. Benishangul-Gumuz (Amharic: , romanized:Benangul Gumuz) is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia bordering Sudan. Instead, cross-border trade has increased, away from official pathways. Gumuz: a dialect survey report. Lifelines: exchange marriage among the Gumuz. "Experimenting with Non-Territorial Autonomy: Indigenous Councils in Ethiopia". [13] In the late 19th century, Ethiopia, under Menelik II, annexed the Sultanates of Beni Shangul and Gubba (Qubba in Arabic) at the behest of Abdallahi ibn Muhammad of Sudan who feared the British would occupy it. Cereal crops are kept in granaries decorated with clay lumps imitating female breasts. The UN says that areas where 80 percent of the regions population live remain cut off from assistance. Material support, which has thus far been in short supply, should be accompanied by psychosocial support. It is worrying indeed that the attention of national and international actors is turned almost exclusively to the war in Tigray. This is an escalation of the border dispute between Sudan and. Until yesterday, 3,364 people from 62 countries entered Ethiopia through Amhara region; 91 people from seven countries received through Kurmuk border crossing point, located in Benishangul-Gumuz region. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Many of those who are still in the region are not getting humanitarian aid. Separately, a European Union envoy warned the crisis in Tigray appears out of control, after visiting Ethiopia on behalf of the bloc. In the absence of any official Egyptian comment on the developments in Benishangul-Gumuz and the Ethiopian accusations, Egyptian media outlets lashed out at Addis Ababa and backed the rebellion in the region. #NEWS ALERT The number of #refugees in eastern Africa has tripled in the last decade to almost 5 million. As many social institutions and homes are destroyed, things like infrastructure building and support for reconstructing homes need to be considered. 1975. 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. Eritrean writer and analyst Shifa al-Afari told Al-Monitor that the Benishangul-Gumuz region is currently seeing unprecedented tension that could be characterized as a state of war. According to him, this is the first time that this armed group, which took control of the county, and these weapons appear in the region. Sudans recent claim to Metekkel and particularly to Guba district has shocked the region. Receive daily updates directly in your inbox -, Eastern Africa: Millions displaced, amid growing hunger, unprecedented needs, FAO ramps up support to Sudan farmers as starvation threat grows in East Africa, Hunger still rising across East Africa, says new UN-backed report, Battle not yet over against locust invasions in East Africa and Yemen, Humanitarians urge action to avert famine in Somalia and South Sudan, Sub-Saharan Africa under threat from multiple humanitarian crises. Tsega Etefa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. [17], In the first quarter of the 19th century, Arab traders arrived from Sennar, which was occupied by Ottoman Egypt from 1821. 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. 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 . 1985. These traders married into the Berta upper class and thus gained political influence. Luxury goods such as textiles and glass beads were imported via Sudan. 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 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. 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. [13], According to Negasso Gidada, Oromo penetration into the region began in the mid-18th century. 7,000 seek Sudan asylum after fleeing western Ethiopia violence Do their policies help peace or exacerbate conflict? What are their hopes and their fears? Benishangul-Gumz Regional Health Bureau - Ethiopia Some observers are now saying that the atrocities committed in Metekkel are reaching holocaust proportions. There are also Sudanese and Egyptian interests to consider. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are rushing life-saving aid to more than 20,000 refugees after they fled clashes in Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz region, bordering Sudan and South Sudan. Time is not on Ethiopias side;it is on the side of Egypt and Sudan.I suspect that they may have hands in almost all conflict areas in the country. Ethiopia is now at a crossroads. 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. 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. Join over 50,000 readers who access our journalists dedicated newsletters, covering the top political, security, business and tech issues across the region each week.Delivered straight to your inbox. Guba is the closest district to Sudan. All the cooking and brewing is carried out in earthen pots, which are made by women. The region's capital is Assosa. Yet the Ethiopian side rejected them all, he added. On 2 April, unnamed Gumuz militias claimed control of the administrative center of Sedal Wereda in Kamashi, very close to the construction site of the GERD. Over 100,000 people, mainly a large proportion of Amhara and Agaw people, have been displaced, the majority fleeing into Chagni, Ranch camp. The agricultural implements and cutting tools of Begemder and Semyen, Ethiopia. As a result, ethnic clashes that had already been growing for months have only gotten worse. Clashes had occasionally erupted in the past in the region that is home to various ethnic groups, including Gumuz, Agaws and Shinasas and the Amhara. Benishangul-Gumuz Regional state, Western Ethiopia Research Article Volume 25 Issue 5 - September 2020 . Opposition political parties, like the Boro Democratic Party (BDP), rejected the 18 May agreement between the regional government and the leaders of the militias, which included power-sharing elements, as illegitimaterecalling that the only way to assume power should be through an election.