Mager Media News Update – Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022 (Hamle 27, 2014 EC)
Today’s Mager Media news updates are as follows:
- Amhara IDPs in Benishangul-Gumuz Region are calling for help;
- Amhara residents in Dera have been unable to travel to Addis Ababa due to Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) blocking roads which has caused them distress and
- Amhara Association in Munich Germany has issued a statement regarding the negotiations.
Amhara IDPs in Benishangul-Gumuz Region are calling for help
Amhara IDPs in Asosa Zone displaced from various woredas of Benishangul-Gumuz Region are facing hunger and criticizing the government of violating their human rights by failing to provide support.
Many children and elderly persons have died from starvation and over 9,000 IDPs are sheltered in tents in Banbasi Woreda (Asosa Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz Region) according to Mager Media’s sources.
The IDPs claim the regional government has failed to provide them with support which has harshly impacted children and elderly persons. In parallel, Gumuz IDPs in Asosa town are receiving aid every ten days, and that within the zone there is differential systems and treatments of Amhara versus Gumuz IDPs, according to sources.
Prior to this, budget funds allocated to the zonal administration for IDPs have not been utilized for their stated purpose and sources say, officials are appropriating the funds sent specifically for Amhara IDPs for personal use, according to Mager Media’s sources.
Mager Media has previously reported in its daily news updates that the federal government allotted 12 million ETB so that IDPs from various woredas in Benishangul-Gumuz Region could be returned to their homes but this money did not reach the IDPs.
Similarly, Mager Media has learned that over 50,000 Amhara IDPs from Raya are not receiving assistance and are facing a serious issue.
Sources said during a time when the ruling Prosperity government has allotted many millions of dollars to help rebuild Tigray, its failure to provide life saving assistance to Amhara IDPs has been very disappointing.
Amhara residents in Dera have been unable to travel to Addis Ababa due to Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) blocking roads which has caused them distress
Mager Media has learned Amhara residents in Dera Woreda (North Shewa Zone, Oromia Region) have been unable to travel to Addis Ababa for the past 45 days as the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has blocked roads.
Prior to this, it would take six hours to travel from the main town in the woreda, Gundo-Mesqel, to Addis Ababa however now, the OLA has blocked the roads so it takes more than 12 hours to travel to Addis Ababa where they go for medical care and commerce, which has caused them great strife.
Residents recall that over 45 days ago, OLA abducted 400 travellers and 4 autobuses, after which the road to Ejere town which extends to Awra Godana was completely closed and travellers had to take extended alternative routes to travel to towns like Fiche and Selassie.
The residents related that they have repeatedly issued their complaints to the woreda administrator which has been unresponsive and seems to endorse the OLA’s actions which seem aimed at economically weakening and causing suffering for the Amhara community.
The residents added that the OLA is still operating in rural areas including Jirru, Gada, Babu and Racho Kebeles, and that they are under extreme stress.
Amhara Association in Munich, Germany warns even one inch of Amhara land will not be given under the pretense of negotiations
The Munich Germany Amhara Association issued a press release saying saving the Amhara people is saving the Ethiopian people and continued saying Amhara lands would not be given under the pretext of negotiations.
In the organization’s press release it states the negotiations or dialogue proceedings between the government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) can only be effective if it is independent of the party’s politics and the dictatorial mindset of one individual and instead one which is inclusive of all stakeholders, has the confidence of the people, and which includes qualified capable representatives who can bring about lasting peace while looking after key interests of their people. The members of the negotiations committee representing the federal government under the direction of Prime Minister are individuals who cannot by any means look after the interests of the Amhara people and who have historically sabotaged the interests of the Amhara people on many occasions, and so the general public would not have any faith in these individuals. In their stead, we call for representatives of the Amhara people to be professors, legal experts, historians, and locally known individuals, and we reiterate that under the pretext of negotiations not one inch of Amhara land can be given away.
In addition, the government must take responsibility and refer to the Amhara Genocide which has gone on for more than 30 years across Ethiopia by its proper name, to issue an apology to the Ethiopian people, to support independent investigations by a committee which can identify perpetrators and hold them accountable, a nationwide day of mourning so the public may express their sorrow appropriately, a lower of the national flag, community elders, religious leaders, media experts, and human rights institutions to gather in locations of the massacres and to gather remaining bodies spared from being eaten by animals and to allow them proper burials, to identify locations of mass graves and build memorial statues, and for the United Nations to give this matter special attention and consideration on the genocide and to stop the genocide before it continues further.
Fano-ism is the blood of bones of the Amhara people, an inheritance from our forefathers and will remain alongside the Amhara people today and onwards. So we call for the immediate release of the more than 5,000 detained Fano leaders and members under the pretense of the so called “law enforcement” operation undertaken by the government; the organization will continue its advocacy for Fano.
All Ethiopians must condemn the immense suffering taking place against the Amhara people as the country cannot continue on the sacrifice of the Amhara people alone, and while considering the issue is not a personal one which will not affect others and so all should refer to the ethnic cleansing of Amhara people by its proper name, “Amhara Genocide” and stand alongside the Amhara people, as the organization issues its call to the greater Ethiopian people.
