Trouble has risen in the African country of Ethiopia. It looks as if protests have taken a dramatic turn. BBC News is reporting that close to 100 people have been killed over the past weekend’s collection of peaceful protests. Ethnic groups of the nation are responding to what officials are calling years of being ignored and marginalized by the Ethiopian government.
This is the first large wave of protests to break out in the country in almost 25 years. Earlier this year, BBC News also released a break down that the CIA World Factbook released that explained the ethnic diversities among the Ethiopian people.
The Ormo people make up about 34.4% of Ethiopia. The Amhara make up 27%. The Somali make up 6.2%. The Tigray make up 6.1%. The Sidama people make up about 4% of the population. The Gurage make up about 2.5% and a mixture other nationalities cover the other 19.8% of the Ethiopian population. Officials say that the Ethiopian government is mostly controlled by a party made up of people from the Tigray region. The Ormo and Amhara people have been leading the protests for government change, but their efforts have not been directly linked together at this point.
The central government has much power in the nation and is in complete control of security and armed forces. The government’s reaction to the protest has shown that it may have concerns. In an effort to diminish the protests in the past, the government has shut down internet access through the country’s one state-controlled internet provider. BBC news also reported that Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn also issued a statement saying that the government “is obliged to ensure the rule of law.” No clarification of this statement has been given.
This weekend, Ormo protesters went to the capital Addis Ababa. There, Amnesty is stating, 67 people died. Another protest took place in Bahir Dar where an alleged 30 people died. The Ethiopian government is disputing the number of the death toll. While the civil rights groups of the nation are saying that their demonstrations have all been peaceful, the government is stating that public and government property is being destroyed, and the protests are getting out of control. This is why they have chosen to resort to violence.
The Ormo and Amhara people of Ethiopia are quite similar to the people of other nations, like the United States, who are protesting the government’s treatment of certain ethnic groups. Sadly, lives are being lost as the people are trying to fight for their rights. As the story progresses, the people of other nations must ask themselves: Are the Ethiopian people being deprived of basic human and civil rights?
